The Falsebound Kingdom: Hero's Crusade
by Shining Charizard
Summary: They thought it would just be a game... Now, trapped in the game simulator Kingdom, Yugi and his friends face the game of war. Based off the GameCube game. Rated for violence and language, though mostly violence. All major characters included eventually.
1. War Campaign, Part I

The Falsebound Kingdom: Hero's Crusade

Notes: My version written here is different from the main story line's in that the monsters the characters use are different. Other than that, all dialogue and events are based on the actual game. (Which, by the way, I do not own.)

**War Campaign**

"Those who claim to control the gods are in fact controlled by the gods." - Alexander Irvine, Philosopher

The hot mid-day sun bore down on the Earth as a large white bus screeched to a stop in front of a factory-like complex. It spat out its only passengers and then zoomed off down the road, vanishing from sight. Eyeing the front gates quizzically, one of the passengers, a tall boy with sandy blonde hair, turned to his friend. "Well, this must be the lab mentioned in that letter you got."

Yugi, a rather short boy with an unusual haircut, nodded and held up a piece of paper. "'SIC Domino Labs.' Yeah, this looks like the place."

Beside him, Téa stared at the towering structures, absorbing the sights. "Doesn't the building look futuristic?" she asked her friends excitedly. "SIC is a famous overseas game company, isn't it?"

"It's a new game company that just started here in Japan, but it's already becoming a major player," Ryou told her and the others. "Although it's relatively new, it's gotten pretty big by releasing a bunch of innovative games. They've been using 3D images and virtual reality research to create some amazingly lifelike environments." As usual, Ryou sounded as though he had swallowed the textbook on the subject.

Joey tried to take in what he had said. "It sounds a lot like what Kaiba's company does," he noted.

Looking back down at his letter, Yugi read off an answer. "According to this invitation, they're doing exactly the same kind of work as Kaiba Corporation. 'SIC has incorporated cutting-edge technologies to develop next generation virtual reality technology. SIC hopes to work in the field of games to perfect this technology, using the wildly popular Duel Monsters. SIC plans to further develop the technology through gameplay.'" He looked up from the paper, wearing a grin. "Their technological goals may be scientific, but if they're using Duel Monsters, I want to get a look at it!"

"Me too," Téa agreed. "This is so exciting! But why did they send invitations to us?"

Yugi brought a hand up to his chin in thought. "I think they sent invitations to everyone that ranked well at the Duelist Kingdom and Battle City tournaments." He pointed to the bottom paragraph and read aloud: "In order to test the new Duel Simulator 'Kingdom,' SIC is sponsoring a test trial... and respectfully asks for your assistance in helping us make 'Kingdom' the best game it can be." He looked up. "It also says to bring friends if you want. Naturally I thought of you guys right away!

Joey crossed his arms haughtily. "Just so we're all clear, I'm here because I did so well in the tournament."

"Oh yeah?" Tristan countered. "Then where's your invitation?"

"They must have sent it to the wrong address!" shot back Joey.

"Yeah, sure," remarked Tristan. "At least we know that Yugi is here as a finalist."

This was Joey's last straw. "That's it! Come on, Tristan! I'll take you, right here and now!" He shoved Tristan back by the shoulder. Tristan retaliated by pushing him back into the chain link fence that surrounded the complex.

Téa moved between them, interrupting their brawl. "Stop it, both of you!" she cried. "This is no time to fight! Look, there's someone from the lab waiting for us. Let's get going."

Indeed, a towering man with dark hair and eyes hidden behind sunglasses had just stepped outside the front door. He made his way over to the group and cleared his throat. "You must be Yugi Mutou," he said. "We've been waiting for you."

"Uh-huh. That's me. And these are my friends..." he waved around at the others.

"Wonderful," the man answered curtly. "Let's all go inside, shall we?"

* * *

Once inside the building, the employee led the group through the maze-like hallways of the building. The walls were barren and white, and their footsteps made echoing clangs against the shiny steel floor. As the walked, Joey leaned over and whispered to Yugi, "Hey Yugi, didn't we see this guy at Kaiba Corporation once?" 

Yugi strained a glance at the man on tiptoe. He saw a small, copper-colored name badge, which read "Isono," barely visible on the man's coat pocket. "I think so," Yugi answered, for he recognized the name, "but all of the people at Kaiba Corporation give off the same kind of weird vibe..."

The group stopped in front of an elevator. Isono inserted a security card key and punched a series of buttons, summoning the elevator to their floor. While they waited for it to reach their level, Isono turned to face Joey. "That is correct. I did work for Kaiba Corporation."

Joey jumped back. "Geeze! He heard us!" Tristan stomped on his foot quickly to shut him up. Just then, the elevator doors slid open, allowing the gaggle of friends to board behind Isono. They traveled upward for two stories, and then exited the elevator just as they had entered it.

Isono led the group down yet another hallway. "We're almost at the main lab." After walking for another few minutes, they came across a wide steel door. Once again, Isono used his security card to grant access to the room, wherein lied a single, medical-style table with computer equipment hugging the walls. Blips and buzzes rang in their ears as the special programs scanned and tested various aspects of the game.

Yugi ran forward and stared at the lone object resting atop the table. "What in the world is this...?" 'This' looked like an exact replica of Kaiba Corporation's Duel Disk system.

Isono stepped closer to the table as the others crowded around all its sides to get a good look. "This is SIC's latest simulator, code name: 'Kingdom.' This is just a prototype; we're only using the Duel Disk for packaging reasons. It's all original SIC hardware on the inside."

Several "Ooooh!"s and "Aaahhhh!"s floated up from the group. Joey reached a finger forward to touch the "Duel Disk," only to have it slapped away by Téa. "Is this what you use to recreate the world of Duel Monsters?" he asked, giving Téa a furtive glance as he rubbed his hand.

"Yes," Isono answered. "Our tests of 'Kingdom' have been very successful so far. We've constructed an entire fantasy world based on Duel Monsters. We'd like you to help us test the simulator by simply playing the game as you normally would. The simulator supports multiple players, so you will all be able to play at the same time. In multi-player mode, everyone joins the game as a different game character," he explained clearly.

Ryou commented with interest, "It sounds like a network game or something."

"These new games are so awesome," Tristan admired.

Isono went on. "'Kingdom' is a fantasy world. The card monsters there are alive. You will all join the resistance and fight against the Empire, which is suppressing the general population. Of course, you'll all participate in the game as different characters. The game is currently set for a few hours and we'll be recording your play data from here." He gestured at the various instruments edging the room.

Joey could barely contain his glee. "Cool! Well, what're we waiting for! Let's play!" He punched the air in a victory pose.

Nodding in agreement, Yugi grinned. "Yeah!"

* * *

"This is so exciting," thought Yugi to himself as Isono began the process of setting up and starting the game. "I wonder what it'll be like." 

Somewhere, in a back corner of his mind, Yugi's other half voiced his doubt _"... Yugi... Does this seem on the level to you?"_

Confused, Yugi thought back, "Huh? What do you mean?"

His other paused accusingly. "_This whole simulator seems suspicious_," he said after a moment.

Yugi sighed. Always being overprotective, his other was. "You're probably just overreacting," Yugi told him. Isono fetched several arm cuffs, like wide bracelets, and helped attach them to everyone's wrist. A wire connected each cuff to the main simulator. After one last glance to assure that everything was a-okay, Isono keyed a command into the main computer and the Duel Disk look-alike hummed to life. "Ah! It's about to start!" Yugi exclaimed as a mint green light traveled up the wire and illuminated a series of markings on the band. The inside of his mind seemed to blur and change channels as the game program transferred the images into his head. A map screen appeared, and the overview of the game plot flashed across the screen for Yugi to read:

After three hundred years of ruling the Rondeval continent, the Sygh-Varths Empire is faced with a crisis. Since the twelfth Emperor, Haysheen, ascended to the throne, corruption and brutality have spread through the Empire. The people suffer oppression, but their complaints have fallen on deaf ears. Haysheen and a select group of his underlings have been living in the lap of luxury. Their lavish lifestyle is supported by heavy taxation, which has pushed most of the populace to the brink. People on the fringes of the Empire have responded with rebellion and revolt. This uprising has extended as far as the northern part of the Empire on Vaxi Island.

As the computer continued its narration, the map screen changed to show an image of the cruel Emperor Haysheen, sitting atop his throne wearing a smug look of satisfaction. He must have been old, for his skin had grayed visibly and his body looked almost like a thin bag of bones, but he still carried his ruling scepter with a fierce look of power in his eyes. The screen then shifted back to the map, showing the part of the continent where the rebellions had taken place. In the northwestern corner, just off the coast of the main landmass, lay a small island labeled VAXI. Its western coast flashed a bright green, indicating the source of the uprisings.

"Hmm, an interesting plot," Yugi noted to himself. "I can't wait to help fight for those people's freedom." His feeling of determination, however, was cut short when the image in his head crackled and made a static sound.

"What's the matter?" cried Yugi, feeling the static traveling up and down his arms and legs.

"_I don't know_," replied his other by thought, "_but I've got a really bad feeling about this_." Meanwhile, bold white letters flashed across Yugi's mental screen:

KINGDOM SIMULATOR OVERLOAD

SAFETY-LOCK ENGAGED

BEGINNING TRANSITION TO MODE 2

... TRANSITION TO MODE 2 COMPLETE. KINGDOM SIMULATOR LOCK-IN MODE ACTIVATED.

The light static turned to powerful jolts of electricity. "What's happening!" exclaimed Yugi. He then had the feeling of being sucked up inside a vacuum cleaner, and he felt the cold air of the lab leave him behind. Tumbling head over heels, Yugi heard the buzzing noise grow into the roaring of the wind before all went black. "UWAAAHH... !"

* * *

Though all was still black, Yugi could have sworn that he heard a voice calling out to him. 

"... ... gi ... ... ... ... ... Yugi... ... ... ... happened? ... ... Lord Yugi... ..."

Struggling to focus the sounds, Yugi managed to command his ears to listen to the speaker. "Lord Yugi! Wake up, please! Lord Yugi!"

Yugi then realized that his face was rubbing up against cool, damp stone, and that the air smelled cleaner than it did earlier. He peeled himself off the ground with trembling arms and forced his eyes to open and view the hazy place he had landed in. His vision, though still blurry, depicted a figure kneeling over him. He brought a hand to his throbbing forehead. "Uuugggnnn. Oh, my head..."

The smeary-edged silhouette stood from his crouch. "You seem to be coming out of it."

Yugi tried to focus his eyes, but the outline only sharpened slightly. "Where am I?" he asked his overseer.

"Huh?" The figure seemed startled by his question. "You're in the port city of Makhad on the western edge of Vaxi Island. You lost consciousness suddenly. You just passed out, right in the middle of our meeting. Don't you remember?"

"Remember what?" Slowly, the silhouette brightened and assumed the shape of a small man, dressed in loosely fitting white robes. He wore a tall hat bedecked with a golden serpent, and a veil covered his face from view. His only visible feature was his round, buggy eyes. He also appeared to have blue skin.

The man sighed. "You appear to be suffering from memory loss. Let me explain everything as quickly as I can." He pointed to Yugi. "Your name is Yugi. You're the leader of the resistance here in Makhad." He then motioned to a crate behind him, which had several maps and papers spread about its surface. "We were planning out next attack when you passed out. We've tricked the imperial forces into splitting up, and Etos, the ruler of these lands, is left with few guards. It was the perfect chance for us to break the Emperor's repressive hold, and we're just about ready to attack!" He glanced back at Yugi. "Is any of this coming back to you? Anything at all?"

Blinking, Yugi shook his head. "No, none of it. I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. But it sounds like I'm supposed to take command of the resistance." Taking command was something Yugi happened to be good at.

The man nodded. "That is correct, Lord Yugi. You are, after all, supreme commander of the resistance." Mentally, Yugi sighed. This doesn't sound good. "Without you," he continued, "we don't even have enough marshals. You must lead on the front lines."

Several more blinks passed. "Marshal?" Yugi asked quizzically.

"Oh dear!" the man gasped. "Have you forgotten everything? Marshals are a type of general and are central to a battle. Marshals can control monsters and engage in battle by pitting their monsters against those of the enemy. Each monster has incredible power, power equal to that of several thousand human soldiers. This is why the marshals hold the key to victory in any battle. However, the number of men with this power over monsters is small. Including you, the resistance has but three."

"So you're telling me that I have this special marshal ability?" Yugi inquired.

Beaming, the man answered with a chuckle, "You have it in spades, sir. Although I'm afraid that your powers might be weaker in your current state. You will just have to get it back slowly in battle. In the beginning, I will assist your recovery, Lord Yugi."

Unsure of what to say, Yugi replied "Uh, thanks. What's your name again?"

"Me? My name is Shimon, at your service, sir." Shimon bowed respectfully.

"Right. Well, thank you, Shimon. Now, can you tell me a little bit more about our enemy?" Yugi had worked it out in his head: if he was going to play this role in the game, he might as well do it right.

"Of course. Remember that imperial units usually have a marshal assigned to them as well. You will need to get your battle instincts back if you're going to defeat the imperial marshals. For the time being, we need to finish planning our strategy and organize our units. Come this way."

Shimon gathered up the scattered papers and led Yugi into a warehouse-like building. He instructed Yugi to sit while he fetched their third member to aid in planning the attack. While they waited, Yugi's other self huffed angrily, "Well, this is a fine mess we're in."

Yugi sighed and answered, "_I know. It doesn't feel like we have any control over the game_."

"I think it's safe to assume that we're trapped in this fantasy game world," his other said. He should know, for they had already experienced this twice in the past. "They must have been planning on using us as their lab rats from the beginning."

"_I wonder if the rest of our friends are here too...?_" Yugi trailed off in thought.

"It's likely. They're probably all just as confused by whatever character roles they've been thrown into as well."

Yugi glanced around at the spacious room around him. "_We've got to find a way out of here_."

"I don't know how much of what the SIC techies told us is true, but they did say that this is a game."

"_Uh-huh_..." said Yugi, urging his other to continue.

"Then it's got to have an ending, right? Maybe if we play the game and clear all the levels..."

"_It'll lead to a way out! That makes sense!_" agreed Yugi. "_With help from the rest of our friends, we're sure to find a way home!_"

His other self crossed his arms sternly. "That seems to be our best bet for now."

Just then, Shimon returned, a timid young girl in tow. When her gaze landed on Yugi she squeaked slightly, as though his presence scared her. Well, not really "scared," but... honored her, to be in the same room with him. She had shortly cut black hair, matching eyes that darted around like a frightened mouse's, and wore robes not entirely different from Shimon's. A wide golden collar fit tightly against her neck, and Yugi wondered how she even managed to breathe.

"Lord Yugi, this is Fizdis. She is from the provincial capital, Tsughut, and is our third marshal of the resistance." He pushed lightly on her shoulder, and Fizdis lost her balance, having to take several steps forward to avoid falling flat on her face.

Yugi rose from his seat and extended a hand. "It's nice to meet you, Fizdis."

Fizdis stared at his palm in disbelief, then slowly stretched out hers and shook. Stammering, she spoke to Yugi in a quiet voice. "S-Sir... Lord Yugi... I may not be a very strong marshal... but I will do all that I can to help stop the Empire."

Yugi grinned in response. "Thank you for your help. We'll surely need it if the Empire is as powerful as Shimon says it is."

"Indeed," Shimon spoke up. "Now, back to our planning..." He spread the stack of parchments across the surface of a spindly table and motioned for Yugi and Fizdis to join him. Pointing to one of the papers, a close up map showing Vaxi Island, Shimon said to his fellows, "Please look carefully at the map of Rondeval. This is Makhad, where we are right now." He indicated with his finger a location on the western coast of the island. "And this is the target of our next battle." Shimon pointed again, to a city a few miles inland from the coast.

"We're going to liberate the rest of Vaxi Island. That is our overall plan. In order to do that, we've got to take control of Tsughut, the provincial capital to the East." Yugi studied the map, and found a dot labeled 'Tsughut' resting neatly on the opposite coastline.

"I see..." he said. "So we have to take command of and cross the whole island before we can get to Tsughut?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Shimon answered. "Tsughut is a large castle in the northern section of the province. It's well defended and houses a huge fighting force. We don't stand a chance if we attack head-on." He looked back down at the map. "First, we've got to get them to divide up their force. We should be able to lure some units away from the capital by liberating nearby lands." His finger trailed over the three other provinces that made up the island. "Places like Etos's Makhad, where we are now. We've already managed to thin out the defenses at Makhad. Let's attack in force and take our first victory!"

Yugi nodded. "Okay. What should I do?"

"You will direct your marshals on the field of battle and attack the enemy main base, Lord Yugi. I'm certainly not as strong as you, but I will also command a team of monsters and assist you. Just remember that none of your other marshals are nearly as powerful as you are." Shimon looked at him sternly. "We depend heavily on you. Your success on the battlefield is the key to the success of the resistance." He stood and dusted himself off. "There are many other details to plan. Let's start with organizing our units for the difficult battle ahead."

"Uh..." Yugi trailed off. "What do you mean by organizing?"

Shimon sighed. "As you may remember, I mentioned a little while ago that the enemy army has its own marshals. Only a marshal commanding his own monsters stands any chance against an enemy marshal. No matter how weak a marshal may be, he can command up to three monsters. We're fighting an enormous Empire," he said solemnly. "The number and power of its monster units are just as frighteningly enormous. We must organize our own monsters into units so that we can combat the enemy. Luckily for us, we have several monsters that are willing to fight for our cause."

He turned and walked towards a door leading to another room in the warehouse. Intrigued, Yugi followed, Fizdis scampering uncertainly behind him. Shimon opened the door to the room and stepped back, allowing Yugi to see its contents. Staring with wide eyes, Yugi was amazed to see a dozen or so monsters filling the large room. As soon as he entered, they had looked up from their reclining until battle. Dragons, Warriors, Beasts... _We have quite a variety_, Yugi noted to himself.

Shimon paced forward and spoke into Yugi's ear. "The first thing you need to do is organize the monsters into groups and then assign them to your marshals. Each group of monsters is called a 'Team.' Please try to remember that, Lord Yugi." He stepped further into the room. "Let's start assembling our team, shall we? After the teams are assembled, it's time to send them to battle. When you are ready, please let me know. Also," he added, "pay special attention to the center monster on each team. This monster is the 'team leader,' and the team's movement speed is determined by the speed of its leader."

The wall of information came fast, but Yugi retained each word and didn't miss a single detail. "I understand. I'll start assembling my teams."

Shimon nodded. "Yes, well... Lord Yugi, if I may be so bold... Would you mind if I picked out my own monsters? You see, I have my own preferences when it comes to monsters... Is that all right?"

"Sure, I don't see any problem with it."

"Thank you, Lord Yugi, thank you. Now, you'd best choose your own monsters well." With that, he strode through the monsters, beginning the search for his favorite ones. Yugi spun around and faced Fizdis, whom was behind him. "And you?" he asked. "Would you like to pick out your own monsters?"

Fizdis jumped at being addressed. "M-me sir? Uh, no sir. I really have no preference here... I'll take what you think best to give me..."

"All right. Wait here while I find monsters for you." Yugi paced the lengths of the room, examining each monster carefully. There were some he recognized easily, like Celtic Guardian and Kuriboh, but others were more of a challenge to identify. One thing, he noticed, that all the monsters held in common was that each one wore an amulet around its neck. The gem that made up the majority of the amulet varied in color from monster to monster, from green to red to even black. Upon looking down, Yugi realized that he, too, had one of these strange necklaces; his shone with a vibrant purple hue.

_Whatever could these colors mean?_ thought Yugi. Just then, his eyes fell upon a group of three monsters hanging off to the side. Two-Headed King Rex, Megazowler, and Uraby... three dinosaur monsters. They stood closely together, obviously implying that if chosen to be on a team, the three went together or not at all. Yugi studied their amulets closely: each one bore the same color gem, a bright amber.

"I wonder..." Yugi muttered to himself. "Fizdis! Come here!" he called over his shoulder. Moments later, the trembling girl appeared by his side. Yugi grasped her own necklace and examined it thoroughly. A medium chocolate brown color, he noted. Not very far off from these monsters' color... hmm.

"Fizdis," he announced, startling the girl even more. "I think I may have found your monsters. How do you feel about commanding a pack of dinosaurs?" Judging by the look on her face, she felt afraid, very afraid. Sensing her doubt, Yugi clapped a hand on her shoulder. "Aw, don't worry. I'm sure you'll do very well with them."

He urged her forward a bit, closer to the dinosaurs she was to lead. The nearest one, Uraby, tensed up a bit and pulled back its lips, showing off serrated fangs. Fizdis tremulously raised a hand and advanced slowly on the defensive dinosaur. Inch by inch, she moved forward, until her hand rested easily on the lizard's forehead. She stroked it gently, what fear she held ebbing away. Uraby closed its ruby eyes lazily and basked in her warm touch. He pulled his massive head away and hissed to his two fellows, whom nodded fervently. The dinosaur then turned back to Fizdis and lowered its skull in a bow.

"There, see? They've agreed to be your team monsters," Yugi told her, wearing a warm smile. "You stay here and sort out which one you want to be the leader. I'll be off picking my own monsters." Fizdis nodded and continued interacting with the great beasts as Yugi traipsed off. His eye had just been caught by the flash of light on metal as Celtic Guardian polished his sword when Shimon came over to him.

"Ah, Lord Yugi. I just want to tell you that I've selected my monsters..." Shimon held up three amulets: one cerulean, one a deep gray, and one a vibrant yellow. "I have them right here. I take it you need more time to find your own monsters... I'll be waiting outside for you, then." He turned and left the room through the door they had entered earlier.

This left Yugi alone to search. He advanced on the busily cleaning Celtic Guardian, whom looked up as he neared. Without hesitation, the Elven warrior slipped his sword back into its hilt and stood from the crate he had been sitting on. Light reflected off the lime green gem embedded in Celtic Guardian's amulet, and in an instant it began to glow. The light flowed off of the jewel and covered the swordsman's whole, and just like that the glowing was swallowed up back inside the gem. Whatever had happened, the only thing now remaining of the Celtic Guardian was his amulet.

Picking up the necklace with uncertainty, Yugi stared at it quizzically. Was it like a storage system? Could all monsters be contained within their own gems? Deciding to ask Shimon about this concept later, Yugi continued off to find two more monsters. Nearby, a young girl rested uneasily with a golden staff in hand. "Magician of Faith," Yugi acknowledged, remembering the card that Téa had shown him as her favorite. She stared up at him, hope in her eyes. _Téa would pick this monster if she were here_... Yugi thought.

"All right. Magician of Faith, will you be on my team?" The small monster smiled gleefully, eyes sparkling. She returned her essence inside the necklace just as Celtic Guardian had done before. Yugi now had two monsters on his side. Only one more now. Which one should he pick? Shimon's words echoed around in the back of his mind:

"Pay special attention to the center monster on each team. This monster is the 'team leader' and the team's movement speed is determined by the speed of its leader."

_So whichever monster I pick should be fast_, Yugi decided, _so that I can move more quickly on the battlefield_. He cast a glance across the whole of the room. Most of the monsters here travel by foot, he noted. There are a few that travel by sea, and some that use flight. _Obviously, those who use the sea will move slowly on land. Walking is the average pace... therefore, a flying monster would be the fastest moving type of creature. All I need now is a good monster that uses flight on my side_.

Most of the flight-monsters were weak Insects or frail birds, and among them Yugi saw nothing that he liked. He was about to give up and settle for a land monster when something nestled in the roof structures caught his eye. A small dragon perched above him, hunched over and staring at Yugi. Although not as big as most dragons, this creature had the same look of great power that was common among its kind. Pink, feathered wings cascaded from each of its forearms, and a collection of razorblade-like objects arranged themselves into a tail. The dragon's piercing sapphire gaze seemed to be judging Yugi, analyzing his worth. Holding his ground under the weight of its eyes, Yugi stared back at the dragon just as hard. A moment passed as none of them made any moves.

Suddenly, without warning, the pink dragon swooped down and landed in front of Yugi. Bright blue eyes glared for a moment... and then the dragon bent forward gracefully in a full-fledged bow. Amazed with his luck at earning a such a powerful beast as his team leader, Yugi could only murmur the monster's name: "Seiyaryu..." The dragon nodded, acknowledging the address. Yugi grinned. "Thank you. I'm sure you'll help the resistance a lot." Seiyaryu's eyes glimmered in response.

"Ah, there you are, Lord Yugi. It's time to move out. Have you found your team monsters?" Shimon had rushed eagerly over. "Oh! You've been blessed by Seiyaryu! 'Tis a great thing, sir! Seiyaryu is the destroyer of darkness, and it is a good omen for our efforts against the Empire!" He looked absolutely thrilled with the resistance's luck. "Okay! Let's get ready to attack Jakhud, Etos's hideout! We'll be sure to take a victory there. Shall we go?"

Yugi gave one last glance to the shiny dragon. "Yes. Let's head out."

* * *

SC: Wow, that took a lo-o-ong time to research/write. By research I mean write down the entire script of the level. (massages hand) It took me TWO AND ONE HALF HOURS to play a thirty minute level because it took so long to write everything down! Ah well. This is the first half of the first chapter: once I write the second half I'll end up merging the two into one. I just want to see if anyone notices/cares about this first. 

Sorry, I know Shimon is an annoying little cheesecake. But I have to have his dialogue in case readers who haven't played the game are confused.

Those of you who have played the game: What do you think of my interpretation of the color balls? I had to do SOMETHING with them... I hope it's original enough for y'all. Expect an update soon if not sooner.

SC


	2. War Campaign, Part II

**War Campaign, Part II**

SC: Thanks to all who reviewed and read the story, despite the fact that I totally broke my promise to update soon and left y'all hanging forever. Let's hope I make up for things with this chapter, aye?

Oh, and a note must be made. Upon arriving in the Kingdom Simulator, Dark Yugi (a.k.a. Yami/Atemu/Other Yugi) took over in Yugi's place. However, everyone still calls him Yugi, because in reality Yugi's other personality doesn't have a name. So, imagine back in Duelist Kingdom in that whenever Yugi used his Puzzle and changed to look like Dark Yugi/Yami/Atemu, but everyone still called him "Yugi." It's like that here. This is also why I never referred to D. Yugi/Yami/Atemu by name in the first chapter (like when I said "his other" or whatever). It's because he doesn't have a name, really. That, and no one in the game refers to him by name either.

With that said, let's continue on, aye? I hope you like it.

* * *

As the evening drew nearer, the motley band of rebels prepared for their upcoming excursion. Fizdis, nervous in anticipation of her first mission, straddled her tiger-striped dinosaur, Uraby. Her other monsters' necklaces joined her own around her neck, held in storage until the time they were needed. Beside her stood Shimon, who had not yet revealed his lead monster; and next to him Yugi had mounted Seiyaryu. The dragon shifted its weight on its legs anxiously, ready for the onslaught. Clearly, this monster was experienced on the battlefield: a valuable asset to Yugi, whom had never actually fought before.

Shimon waved the map showing their current province one last time. "As you can see, there are four villages, including the enemy base at Jakhud and our base here in Makhad, between here and our target. Thanks to our earlier planning, the main enemy force is much smaller than it once was and is not massed nearby. The ruler, Etos, has no idea that we're ready to attack. Let's take this chance to secure our position in the area."

"What should we do about the other villages? There may be imperial guards there," Yugi pointed out.

"Exactly what I was thinking, Lord Yugi. First, send someone to free the two villages between here and Jakhud. They are Ruthum and Phedon. The villages are filled with supporters of the resistance. It will be a good foothold from where we can attack. As we free the nearby villages from repressive imperial rule, they will most likely offer us items and money. We need both these things to help build up our force, so we should try to free as many places as possible.

"Now, we may not know much about the enemy, but I do have an inside source that claims that none of the imperial guards in Ruthum or Phedon are marshals. So, we do not need to rush in ready to attack. Rather, if we send two people out, one to each town, the third can advance on Jakhud and hide out there until the others arrive."

"All right. Fizdis, you go to Phedon. Shimon, you take Ruthum. While you two deal with that, I'll cut through the forest and get to Jakhud. I'll wait there until you can meet up with me so we can attack the base." Yugi explained his plan deftly.

Fizdis looked confused. "What should we do when we get there, sir?" she asked.

"Just run the guards out of town. If they have no marshals, then they won't even try to fight you," Yugi told her. Uraby sneered arrogantly; it seriously doubted that even if they did have marshals, they wouldn't be foolish enough to attack such a mighty dinosaur. "In fact," Yugi went on, "I think I have an idea as to how you can go about doing it..."

He told the group his plan, and the others agreed to it instantly. By now, night had fallen, and it was time to move out. Fizdis grasped the reigns affixed to her monster tightly, gulped, and dug her heel into Uraby's side. The raptor rushed forward and thundered off across the plains, in the direction of Phedon. Shimon raised the dark gray talisman and summoned his monster, which turned out to be Zombie Warrior. He then informed Yugi that he would be walking on foot to Ruthum.

"It will most likely take me a while to get to Ruthum from here, and then onward to Jakhud. The best thing for you to do would be to not wait for me; rather, allow Fizdis to be your backup, since she will get there much more quickly. That said, I bid thee good luck, Lord Yugi."

Yugi nodded, and Seiyaryu took off into the night, traveling surprisingly fast for such a small beast. Shimon looked on as the pair vanished in the distance. "I bid thee good luck," he repeated, then began his long walk to Ruthum in silence.

* * *

Looming before him like a great barrier, Yugi hovered atop his dragon and peered into the thick forest. From what he could see, there was nothing dangerous inside, but it's always better to be safe than sorry in his book. He took out the necklaces containing Celtic Guardian and the Magician of Faith and summoned them to the field.

"We may come across something in the woods," Yugi told his monsters, "so we're going to be on guard, okay?" The two nodded, Celtic Guardian grasping his sword firmly in his grip, Magician of Faith holding her staff at the ready. Seiyaryu cast a wary eye over his team before giving a few flaps of his wings and leading the group into the forest.

They pressed onward, encountering nothing but bushes and trees throughout their entire journey. That is, until... "GRRRRRRR!" A fierce growling noise spilled from a nearby bush.

Yugi pulled back on Seiyaryu's reigns. "Is it an ambush?" he cried, searching desperately for the source of the sound. A faint rustling of leaves met his ears, and then...

"GUUAARRR!" The silvery form of a wolf leapt out of its hiding spot, aiming straight for Yugi. Seiyaryu gave a festinate flap of its wings, moving out of the attacker's line of fire just before being skewered. Yugi's eyes followed the creature until it had landed and turned, preparing to leap again.

"It's a Silver Fang!" he yelled before it charged a second time. The monster had targeted Seiyaryu as its prey, and was attacking relentlessly. The dragon could barely dodge the blows, for the trees of the forest made it hard for a flying creature to move about freely. Silver Fang moved directly in front of the pink dragon and began another rush. This time, Seiyaryu was ready, and it was just about ready to stop his foe with a fireball when...

Silver Fang darted to the right and attacked from the side! A feint! Sharp fangs bit deeply into Seiyaryu's wing, piercing the scales and drawing fine beads of blood. Suddenly, a rainbow-colored blast of light shot the wolf hard in the side, knocking it away from its foe. Magician of Faith raised her staff again and launched another stream of light at Silver Fang. A direct hit! The beast whined in pain, but despite its injury the wolf continued its onslaught against Yugi and Seiyaryu.

Celtic Guardian, not wanting to be outdone by the Magician's light show, brandished his sword and charged for the enemy. However, a mere slash was too slow to hit the swift Silver Fang, whom dodged easily. The Elven warrior tried again to slay his foe, but he remained too slow to land a hit. Another surge of rainbow light shot from Magician of Faith's staff, this time knocking the beast into a tree and dealing a critical amount of damage. Silver Fang stood for a moment on trembling legs, then keeled over to the side. A white light surrounded it, and then there remained nothing but the diamond-like amulet that represented Silver Fang, glittering innocently on the forest floor.

Yugi sighed, letting out the breath he had unknowingly held during the fight. "Well done. A first victory for the resistance." He picked up the necklace and pocketed it. "We may have a need for this monster's viciousness later." Yugi eyed his monsters. "Is everyone okay?"

Magician of Faith nodded, signaling that she had not received any injury from the fight. Sheathing his sword, Celtic Guardian could only look away in disappointment from not being able to win in battle. Seiyaryu waved its arm eagerly, showing that a weak attack like that wouldn't be enough to stop a powerful dragon like him. Yugi grinned warmly. "All right. Let's carry on, shall we? Be ready, in case of another attack." The group nodded, then continued on through the dark forest, pressing forward to Jakhud.

* * *

Fizdis rubbed her hands together nervously. She and her three dinosaurs stood atop a hill on the outskirts of Phedon. By now, night had fallen on the peaceful village, and even the Imperial Guards supposedly on patrol had drifted off to sleep. They sat silently in chairs situated right along the main road, snoozing lightly at their posts, just as Lord Yugi had predicted. Now, it was time to put his plan into action.

"All right everyone, do you remember what to do?" she asked her monsters. They nodded vigorously, eager to embark on their first mission. "Okay. Go!" Fizdis brought her hand down quickly like a flagman at the beginning of a race. At this signal, the dinosaurs thundered off down the hill, charging at full speed towards the town. The sound of their heavy and frequent footfalls jerked the guards from their slumber.

"H-huh? What in the world is that?" asked one of them fearfully.

"Look! On the hill!" another one cried, pointing down the street. "Monsters are charging!"

"They've come to kill us!" yelled a third guard. "Run for your lives!" Emperor Haysheen's mighty soldiers took to fleeing like cockroaches beneath a light bulb. The group of about five men never had time to run far, for their speed didn't match with the powerful dinosaurs' rate. Uraby let out a roar and commanded his comrades to lash the men with their tails and ram them with their heads until every last one had been knocked out effectively. The tiger-striped raptor snorted arrogantly, then turned and paced back into town.

Fizdis stood waiting in the middle of the street. "Great job!" she congratulated. "You beat the guards all by yourselves!" Fizdis threw her arms around Uraby's neck in a tight hug. The monster responded with a growl, meaning 'Of course we beat them! We're dinosaurs!'

By now, several of the town's villagers had awoken and left their houses to see what the racket was all about. When they saw the young girl hugging a dinosaur happily, and noticed that none of the usual guards were present, they all thought the same thing.

"Are you..." piped up a small boy. "Are you here to save us from the Emperor?"

"Yes!" chimed Fizdis happily, almost squealing with delight from successfully freeing her first town. "I'm a member of the Makhad resistance force. My comrades and I are fighting to free Vaxi Island from Haysheen's rule."

"Just where are your comrades?" questioned another villager, a middle-aged man.

"One is currently liberating Ruthum, just as I liberated your town. The other, our leader, is on his way to Jakhud right now, to strike down Etos." The peasants gasped.

"Take down Etos? Impossible! Surely, this leader you speak of is mad," an old woman croaked. Several other townspeople murmured in agreement.

"Mad? Surely not. It was he who devised this plan to run the guards out of town, not I. Besides, is it right to accuse someone of madness when he fights for the right of liberty?" Fizdis stared hard at her listeners.

"The girl is right!" a man yelled suddenly. "Anyone who fights against the Emperor has my support! Here," he reached into his pocket, "take some of my gold. It's not a lot, but I want you to have it. I'll help the resistance in any way possible." Fizdis extended a hand and caught the few loose coins as he dumped them out.

"Thank you, kind Sir," replied Fizdis. "I'm sure that if our leader were present, he would be moved by your generosity."

"Take mine as well!" chirped a young lad. "I'll lend my gold to your cause!"

"And me!" added another.

"Miss," the young boy who had questioned Fizdis earlier tugged lightly on her robes. "My family doesn't have much gold, but we do have some medicines." He handed her two bottles, one filled with a cerulean liquid and the other, a fine golden powder. "Use these if your monsters ever get hurt while you're fighting."

Fizdis leaned over and patted him on the head. "Thank you. I believe you have given me the most precious donation of all." The boy grinned fondly. Moving back over towards Uraby, Fizdis mounted her monster once again.

"Thank you, people of Phedon!" she cried. "Your generosity will not go to waste. Now, I must leave for Jakhud, so that I may aid our leader in his attack against Etos. May your prayers be with us as we undertake this dangerous mission."

As she turned to go, a member of the village called out to her. "Miss! What is the name of this leader you speak so highly of?"

"His name is Lord Yugi, and he will be our savior in these dark times! With that, I bid thee farewell!" Fizdis dug her heels into Uraby's sides, and he roared valiantly before charging off into the night air, Megazowler and Two-Headed King Rex behind him. As Phedon disappeared from view, Fizdis listened as the people cheered for their new spark of hope.

"Three cheers for Lord Yugi! May he save us from Haysheen! Lord Yugi!"

* * *

Not far off in Ruthum, Shimon had run the guards out of town in a way similar to Fizdis's, but with his own personal twist.

"This town is haunted! Run for it!" the guards yelled at each other before scrambling to leave the village. After every last one had fled, the townspeople cheered.

"Awesome!" said a young lad of around twelve. "The way you had your Zombie Warrior just pop up out of the cemetery, man, it was great!"

"And then, the ones who weren't scared off by that turned yellow when they saw your dragon!" a little girl added. She clawed the air and made a "RAAAR!" sound to emphasize the dragon's scariness.

Shimon smiled. "Yes, indeed they did. After all, Kaiser Dragon can be a nasty fellow if you rub him the wrong way."

"Thank you so much for freeing our town. I believe I am not the only one grateful for your efforts." The woman handed Shimon a small parcel. "May your cause be aided by these items."

Other people stepped forward and offered what they had to Shimon, just as the people of Phedon had to Fizdis. "Many thanks for your generosity, citizens of Ruthum. May your town continue to live free from the Emperor's corrupt hand. But now, the hour is late, and I must be getting on. My leader awaits my arrival."

Once again, the newly freed people asked to know the commander of the resistance's name.

"His name is Yugi," Shimon answered before turning to leave the town, walking alongside his slow but reliable Zombie Warrior.

* * *

Perched on a rim high on a cliff, Seiyaryu waited patiently for the battle ahead. Beneath the rose-colored dragon, Yugi relayed the details of the plan he had concocted to Fizdis, whom had arrived not minutes before.

"I'll be going in by myself, all right? At least at first. I want you to wait half an hour before coming in after me. If Shimon shows up while I'm gone, tell him the plan," he explained. "And whatever you do," Yugi continued, "don't get nervous, okay? I know we can win."

Fizdis looked up, staring into Yugi's bright amethyst eyes with her own dark chocolate ones. Somehow, seeing the confidence shining in Yugi's irises gave her hope, and quelled the dark feeling of doubt that had been rising in her throat.

"Okay," she declared. "I'll do my part. Rest assured, Lord Yugi."

He grinned. "You know, you don't have to call me 'Lord' all the time. I'm just normal Yugi. I don't need any titles."

"Oh," Fizdis blushed furiously and averted her gaze, "I'm sorry. If you had told me sooner, I'd..."

"It's okay. Besides, we don't have time for that now." Yugi looked down at the castle sternly. "Now, we have a castle to take." He stood up and dusted himself off. Seiyaryu swooped down from his perch and was instantly at his side, ready to take off at his command. Yugi patted the dragon's neck affectionately. The youth drew from his pockets the amulets of his other two monsters and draped them around his neck along with his own violet gem. Then, giving one last sigh, Yugi swung one leg over Seiyaryu's back and pulled himself on.

Seiyaryu straightened up proudly once Yugi had mounted successfully. It gave a confident roar before flapping its wings and diving off the face of the cliff. "Good luck, Yugi! Please be careful!" Fizdis cried after him, watching her leader zoom off to the castle in the valley below. The setting sun cast a pale orange glow on her tanned face as a fretful quiver overtook her eyes. "I hope he'll be okay."

* * *

The castle lay silent in the ever-darkening evening as Seiyaryu landed atop the stone wall. Yugi dismounted silently and removed the reins from his companion's mouth. The jingling of the metal would only draw attention to the pair as they entered, so Yugi shoved it up against the wall beside them, aiming to return for it later. "Come on," he whispered to his dragon, "let's get going before anyone notices that we're here." Seiyaryu nodded fervently and obediently followed his master inside the wide stone archway before them.

Inside, the castle was dark and cold; their breath rising in a mist around them as they passed the spidery shadows cast on the walls by torches in their brackets. Yugi was amazed at how Seiyaryu handled the situation: the rose-colored beast had taken to walking on his toes, minimizing the noise his claws made against the floor. He couldn't help but grin as he admired his comrade. _How lucky I am to have such a great monster._ But Yugi was jerked from his thoughts when they arrived at a grand hallway, with corridors branching off in every imaginable direction.

"Now where do we go?" he wondered, trying to determine which passageway would lead to Etos's room. He felt a sharp nudge in his back, and turning around he found Seiyaryu glaring fiercely at something down the hall.

"What is it?" Yugi asked. Seiyaryu only prodded him harder and stared with piercing sapphire eyes. Yugi turned back around and saw, down the corridor, what appeared to be a man moving around. Abruptly Yugi pressed himself against the wall, hoping upon hope that he hadn't been seen. However, the man continued to walk away from them, oblivious to the pair of infiltrators watching him like a hawk. He wore flowing emerald robes, and loose golden bangles festooned his wrists.

"That's him!" Yugi whispered hurriedly. "It has to be... Etos!" Seiyaryu nodded its head in agreement. "He doesn't appear to have any guards... but we'll follow him for a while, just to be safe." Creeping along as silently as possible, Yugi and his monster trailed Etos through the hallway. Etos still hadn't seemed to notice his followers, for he ambled down the corridor nonchalantly. The robed ruler seemed to be drawing Yugi and Seiyaryu into the heart of the castle, when suddenly he made for a spiraling staircase, apparently leading to the roof.

Ta-click! Ta-click! Ta-click! The noise from Seiyaryu's claws became harder to hide as they began climbing the stairs, still in pursuit of Etos. Yugi didn't have long to worry about that, though, for a moment later the pair arrived at the top of the stairs. A wide archway led out onto the castle roof, and leaning over the wall, admiring the sunset, stood Etos. The various turrets and towers of the castle cast long shadows across the stone floor.

"What a day," Etos said after awhile. Yugi nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise, but Seiyaryu held out a wing to keep him from making any noise. "Taking care of one's routine affairs does make one tired, especially when his assistants are unavailable," Etos continued talking to himself. He sighed deeply and straightened up. "Perhaps I should retire for the night."

This was it. The perfect dramatic moment. Yugi stepped forward a bit, so that he was visible to Etos, yet his face remained hidden in shadow. "Planning on turning in, eh? I'm afraid it won't be so easy." Yugi tried to make his voice sound as intimidating as possible.

"Wh-what?" Etos cried. He spun around and caught sight of a strange figure barring the stairs. "Who are you? I don't remember having you at my castle!"

"That's because I'm here to take it from you." Yugi moved fully into the light, a confident smirk painted on his face. The last of the fading sun's light reflected in Yugi's eyes, giving them an almost ruby glow. Needless to say, he looked rather creepy.

Etos was taken aback. "You insolent runt! Just who do you think you are?" The man cast worried glances right and left. "Guards!" he roared. "Where are my guards!"

Yugi took a step forward. "You're the only one left now." Seiyaryu added to the drama by growling fiercely and pacing slowly out of the shadows, wearing a glare to match his master's. "Prepare for the end."

"WHAAAH!" Etos cried. He shuddered in fear, then slowly came back to his normal state, as though he had remembered who he was and the power he wielded. "Traitors!" he yelled. "How dare you revolt against the Empire! I'll take some of you with me before I'm done!"

Etos whipped out three necklaces, and in an instant his monsters had been summoned to the field. A Basic Insect clicked its pincers together furiously; the Swordsman from a Foreign Land unsheathed his silver sword. Neither of these monsters was very strong, this Yugi knew. But the third could cause some major trouble. Rearing on its hind legs, furling and unfurling its dark leather wings, and snapping its gaping jaws was a Blackland Fire Dragon. Fearsome, to say the least. The great beast snorted, a few trace embers flaring out of its nostrils. He eyed Seiyaryu hungrily, declaring with its yellow eyes that he would be the victor of this fight. Seiyaryu responded with a thunderous roar that resonated with every ounce of power the dragon had.

Etos smirked maliciously. "You seem to be a rather tricky fellow. I've heard rumors of a resistance force being made, but didn't care to believe them until now. I'm willing to bet that you're the leader, aren't you?" Yugi nodded, not taking his eyes off his foe. "Then let me propose something a bit out of the ordinary. You and I are to face off in a duel. After all, we're men above senseless fighting.

"Here's how it will work: You and I will face each other, our three monsters in a line before us. From there, we'll take turns attacking each other. Neither person's monsters are allowed to dodge. If they do, then the other person can go full out on them. As for the order of turns, they will be determined by our monsters' Action Points."

"The what?" Yugi asked. Etos simply smirked.

"Oh, so you don't know... Excellent. Well, what are you waiting for? Summon your monsters! Unless you're foolish enough to fight with just one."

A pang of annoyance throbbed in Yugi's heart. "I'll show you who the _real_ foolish one is! Summon!" He whipped the two gemstones from around his neck and raised them in the setting sun's light. "Celtic Guardian! Magician of Faith! Help me to defeat my foe!" Both of the pendants began to glow, sending particles of light forward to materialize into monsters. Celtic Guardian stepped out of his glimmering veil of lime green and clutched his silver sword tightly in his hands. Mimicking the elven warrior's actions, Magician of Faith also appeared amidst her flurry of magenta and sternly gripped her staff. Seiyaryu flapped its wings a few times before rising up into the air and settling back down in the center of the line.

Yugi clenched his fist in anger. _I may not know what these "Action Points" Etos speaks of are, but it needn't matter._ He glared at the ruler's monsters. _I've got to trust in my monsters and believe that I'll win, no matter what._

"Very well. Let us begin." Etos clapped his hands together. "Ready yourselves for the attack, my monsters! Show this spiky-haired _child_ what you're really capable of!"

The last of the sun buried itself behind the horizon as the two opponents cried out into the night: "DUEL!"

* * *

SC: Man, do I feel like a heel. I mean, seriously! I posted a chapter and I haven't updated it in forever! In fact, I decided to cut the chapter off here, just so I could post the darn thing faster.

I apologize for not updating. One reason is that I posted the first chapter right before leaving on three computer-less weeks for Europe. Then, when I got back, I couldn't write worth anything. I was dead in the water. Anyway, after that, I had finally started to get my inspiration back when... MARCHING BAND CAMP came and struck down all hopes of getting anything done. Then I started high school... :ducks as random readers yell "FISH!" and throw fish at her: ... and my life's been totally hectic. But hey, at least I updated, aye?

And that would be my long and daunting excuse. Can y'all ever forgive me?

Thanks.

And now, for something I've never done before. Review responses! Let's take a look at what some of you have said:

**Pikpik246**: Thanks! I hope you enjoy the new chapter!

**Sui Megami**: Thanks so much! I've actually been working pretty hard to keep everyone in-character; normally, that's a hard subject for me.

**Neo the mage-blade**: Sorry, I already have everyone's monsters planned out. It seems you like the warriors; if so, then know that I'll have Flame Swordsman and Ansatsu in later chapters. Thanks for the comment on the color balls too. I sort of modeled them after Pokéballs (Can anyone tell?) My favorite card? It really depends, but overall I'd say Seiyaryu.


	3. War Campaign, Part III

**War Campaign, Part III**

SC: There's not much left to this chapter of the game, but I'll try to make it worthwhile. I may even throw in some bonus material; we'll have to wait and see about that one.

I reiterate that it is indeed Yami/Atemu/Dark Yugi in control right now (and during the entire game), even though it just says "Yugi." I have to repeat this several times because whenever I try to explain it to my friends, they don't get it. They get all confused when they read my unpublished fanfiction because I call him Yugi, even though I mean Yami. In short, I call them both Yugi, just because it's easier for me, and I like that name better. If you don't like that, then I'm awfully sorry, but that's how the cards are stacked. Deal.

(Man, what a bad pun. Get it? Cards? Deal? Oh, never mind. On with the story.)

* * *

Recapitulation: "The last of the sun buried itself behind the horizon as the two opponents cried out into the night: 'DUEL!'"

_My first battle, _Yugi thought. Before him, Etos's three monsters glared and snarled in anticipation of the fight. _May luck and the hearts of my monsters be on my side._ Yugi had no idea what to expect in this match, so what next came instilled without a doubt surprise.

The air above the battlefield warped, reflecting iridescent waves of light. The bending rainbow light shifted and rearranged itself; Yugi swore that he could make out words forming in the nearest one, above Seiyaryu. He narrowed his eyes and read as the smeared letters came into focus:

Seiyaryu HP: 2015

Beneath the data came a row of four stars, along with a picture of the dragon's face.

"A status window!" Yugi exclaimed. "Of course!" In all his worry, Yugi had forgotten that this realm was in fact a game, and that as a game it must have some sort of battle system. He scanned the data for his other two monsters.

Celtic Guardian HP: 1675

Magician of Faith HP: 1352

Celtic Guardian's window had four stars, just as Seiyaryu's did; however, Magician of Faith sported seven.

_Those stars... What could they mean?_ Yugi glanced at Etos's monsters and observed their status windows. Blackland Fire Dragon, Basic Insect, and Foreign Swordsman had three, five, and seven stars, in that order. _It can't be related to the number of stars that they have as cards, for Seiyaryu's a seven-star monster, and Magician of Faith, a three. Nor can it be related to each monster's physical strength, for both Celtic Guardian and Seiyaryu greatly outrank Magician of Faith in that category as well._ Yugi strained to come up with what the stars could mean; yet he found nothing. _Argh! For all I know, those stars could be a rating of ugliness!_

"Now we begin. My Foreign Swordsman takes the first strike," Etos declared. The warrior monster gripped the hilt of his sword and tilted his head down, the wide brim of his straw hat casting his eyes in shadow. "And I think I'll have him cross swords with your elf. Swordsman! Attack Celtic Guardian now!"

Foreign Swordsman leapt forward. In one smooth motion he drew his sword from its sheath and slashed it across Celtic Guardian's shoulder. The elven warrior stumbled backwards, bellowing in pain. Yugi's fist clenched as he watched his loyal monster grimace and step forward back into line. _Not being able to dodge only makes the fight that much harder! Unless I figure out how this works, my monsters will only get hurt!_

"Your turn, rebel," Etos said smugly.

Yugi looked up. "My turn?" _How did he know?_ Glancing up above his monsters, Yugi noticed that Magician of Faith's data was highlighted a bright yellow. Beside her, a new column of words appeared, presenting to Yugi what he assumed to be commands:

**Attack**: This one was easy; obviously it meant using an attack on an opponent's monster.

**Special**: This command was written in faded gray letters, perhaps because it couldn't be used at present...? This didn't matter, for Yugi had no idea what it meant.

**Item**: This command was also faded, but its meaning remained apparent: use an item on a monster. However, Yugi knew that he didn't have any items, so this command was useless now.

**Info**? Yugi didn't know what this command meant.

**Escape**: Run away? Even if this option wasn't faded, Yugi knew he'd never run away.

**Defend**: Defend, as in defense? Could monsters in this realm assume defense mode, too?

**Wait**? Again, Yugi had no idea what to make of this command.

Right now, it seemed Yugi's only option was to attack or defend. He scanned Etos's monsters, and was about to direct Magician of Faith to attack Blackland Fire Dragon when out of the corner of his eye he noticed something peculiar on Foreign Swordsman's window. Where once there had been seven stars, only six remained!

_That's odd,_ Yugi thought. _Why did it go away?_ "Hmm..." Something wasn't right here, and Yugi, being Yugi, decided to find out what. "Magician of Faith!" he declared. "Attack the Foreign Swordsman!" The young magician nodded and raised her staff; seven spheres of light, one for every color of the rainbow, formed around the end of it before shooting forward in a rushing stream of energy. The blast struck the Foreign Swordsman in the stomach, winding him and knocking him over. Yugi couldn't help but grin as he watched the swordsman's HP drop by over a hundred points.

"Grrrrr..." Etos growled. "It seems you catch on quickly, for someone so young and inexperienced. Decided to take out the one with the most Action Points first, eh? Well, two can play at that game. Basic Insect," he cried, and the praying mantis stood up straighter, "attack Magician of Faith with your soldier spike!" The nimble insect monster hopped forward and dove into a tackle, driving its shoulder into the Magician of Faith's right arm. She let out a cry of pain and fell to her knees, clutching her wounded arm tightly.

"Oh no, Magician of Faith!" Yugi exclaimed. "Are you all right?" She looked up and nodded feebly, slowly rising to her feet, though still with her hand over the wound.

"My, my, I daresay I landed a critical hit with that last one, rebel. I don't think she could take another hit like that." Etos smirked maliciously. "Too bad for you."

Yugi balled his hand into a fist again. His teeth clenched in anger and he was about to say something very obscene to Etos when Magician of Faith shook her head, silently chiding him. Yugi relaxed a little bit, but only barely. He had to think of a way to win this before his monsters got too badly hurt. His thoughts turned back to what Etos had said: _"Decided to take out the one with the most Action Points, eh?"_ Action Points... Etos had mentioned them earlier, too. But what _were_ they? Yugi looked up to see that Magician of Faith's health had dropped by nearly half; she didn't have much to start with in the first place. He saw that she too had lost one of her seven stars, and that the Basic Insect was down to four. _Why do they keep losing stars...?_ Yugi almost asked himself, when suddenly it dawned on him.

The _stars_ were the Action Points! That's why the monsters kept losing them! An Action Point is what limits how many times a command can be performed – otherwise, the strong monsters would easily overpower the battles. That's why Seiyaryu and Blackland Fire Dragon had fewer stars... And why Foreign Swordsman and Magician of Faith had so many. So, to compensate for lower attack power, the weaker monsters could attack more times, thus making it even. It was so simple! Yugi felt like an idiot for not figuring this out sooner.

_Then that means I really_ should _take out the Foreign Swordsman first. He may not be as strong as the dragon is, but by attacking more times he can hurt me even more._ The yellow highlight flashed in Celtic Guardian's window. "Celtic Guardian, it's payback time! Attack the Foreign Swordsman with Faerie Blade Slash!"

Celtic Guardian grinned. He pulled his sword back, point facing forward, and charged straight for Foreign Swordsman. Eyes flashing with anger, the elven warrior plunged the blade directly into his target's left leg. The red-stained tip came out the other side, earning a bellow of pain from Foreign Swordsman. He yelled even harder when Celtic Guardian yanked the sword out and jumped back into line. Streams of blood ran down Foreign Swordsman's leg into a small puddle on the ground.

Yugi felt bad for having to do this to a Duel Monster, but he had no choice. The highlight shifted over to Seiyaryu's window; apparently, a player could have two turns in a row. Seiyaryu glared with piercing eyes at the wounded swordsman, for it knew that he would be its target. Still, the rose-colored dragon waited for Yugi to declare the attack. "Seiyaryu! Finish what your comrades started! Attack Foreign Swordsman now!"

Seiyaryu flapped its wings and rose from the ground. Inside its open mouth, pale orange flames mixed with dreamy white ones, creating a heavenly fireball. The dragon launched the flames in the Foreign Swordsman's direction with a prideful roar. The fireball crashed into him, and in the instant the fire died, so did the swordsman. His sword slipped from his grasp with a clatter and he fell to the ground. Light issued forth from the jewel around his neck and swallowed his form up, so that no trace of the swordsman remained except the glittering gemstone.

"One down," Yugi found himself saying. He felt very distant from himself, a feeling of guilt settling down in his stomach. _I'm sorry..._ he said mentally before focusing back on the battle at hand.

Etos looked devastated. "You... You insolent weakling rebel! How could you? How could you defeat my monster so easily when clearly this is your first face-off? How could you!"

Yugi could only smirk. "Wouldn't you like to know." _After all, they don't call me the "King of Games" for nothing._

A flustered growl came from Etos. "I'll show you what you want to know! That I am still ruler of these lands!" The Blackland Fire Dragon reared up on its hind legs; small plumes of flame issuing as warnings from its nostrils. "Now, my great beast! Roast the Magician of Faith!"

The dragon roared fiercely and unleashed a wave of flames that crashed into the Magician of Faith with the force of a cannon ball. The heat was almost too much to bear for Yugi, being so close to the flames. The Magician of Faith screamed, and Yugi tried to see her through the blaze, but she was nowhere to be seen. "Magician of Faith!" Yugi cried, hoping upon hope that she had somehow survived...

Etos wasn't as apprehensive. "There's no way your weakling monster survived that blast. Just give up alread-" He cut off as the flames subsided, and there stood the Magician of Faith, panting heavily. "What! How on earth..." The magician's HP bar dropped to a meager fifty-eight. She had barely managed to pull through.

"It seems my monster survived enough to take another turn, Etos," Yugi observed. "Magician of Faith, go! Use the last of your power to attack the Basic Insect!" She nodded and tremulously raised her staff. Once again, the stream of rainbow light surged forth and struck the insect hard, actually knocking it back several feet. A quick red light flashed in Basic Insect's HP bar before the numbers started dropping by twice the amount of damage the magician had done before. "Yes! A critical!" Yugi exclaimed happily.

"A lucky shot, rebel," Etos growled. "Attack, Basic Insect! Tear that wench to ribbons!" Basic Insect clicked its pincers angrily and raised its claws. With a quick leap it bridged the gap between the two and brought its claws down across Magician of Faith. Her high-pitched scream split the air before the magenta light bubbled up from her jewel and swallowed her into its depths.

Magician of Faith had been defeated.

Yugi stood frozen in shock. After a moment, he made to pick up her gem when Etos cut in. "Leave her. She's not worth the effort of bending down anyway." Hot tears and anger burned in the back of Yugi's eyes.

Celtic Guardian's turn had come. Yugi couldn't find the words to speak his command, yet the elven warrior understood enough to know that a nod in the Basic Insect's direction meant to attack. Moonlight flashed off the steel of his blade as Celtic Guardian slashed across the Insect's abdomen. Seiyaryu's eyes seemed to match Yugi's as it silently flapped into the air and fired a plasma fireball at Basic Insect. The bug screeched and vanished in the light from his jewel, just as his comrade and enemy had.

And still, Yugi said nothing. (1)

The duel now stood at two to one. The scales had tipped in Yugi's favor.

"Grrrr... That's the last straw!" Etos snarled almost as fearsomely as his dragon did. "I am the ruler here! You cannot defeat me! My dragon," he roared in command, "attack that pathetic rebel's Celtic Guardian with Flame Gale!" The great green dragon reared up onto its hind legs again and let loose its hateful fire. Celtic Guardian was engulfed by the flames and bellowed in pain; Etos took on a psychotic grin and giddily cried out, "That's it, destroy! Kill! Burn! Slaughter!"

The fires died out, and Celtic Guardian took a staggered step forward. He planted the blade of his sword between two stones and put all his weight on it, panting heavily. Yugi felt the back of his eyes burn again as his loyal monster gave him one last apologetic gaze before collapsing. The light of his gem swallowed him up before he had even hit the ground.

Now the two opponents were tied, each with one dragon on his side.

"Ah, how the weak do fail," Etos commented lightly. "But that matters not, for now I plan to crush you like the spiky-headed insect you are. KAH HA HA HA HA!" He laughed at the insult he had made.

Yugi stared at the two faded gems that had been his monsters. Celtic Guardian, his loyal friend, and Magician of Faith... Téa's favorite card. The image of Téa's face flashed in Yugi's mind, but he blinked it off. No, she wasn't here now, and in any case, Yugi had a job to finish. "Seiyaryu," he stated plainly. The dragon nodded and cast its sapphire gaze on Etos and the one barrier between the two: the Blackland Fire Dragon. Yugi hated having to do this to monsters, even to ones on his opponent's side. But it had to be done, and so he hesitated only for an instant before crying out, "Attack! Shining Plasma!"

The heavenly fire formed once more in Seiyaryu's mouth. Across the way, the Blackland Fire Dragon tensed and hissed angrily in defiance of the attack. "Not tonight, rebel, for I'll meet your attack head on!" Etos interrupted. "Blackland Fire Dragon, show the rebel what you're really made of!" The great-scaled beast threw back its head in a howling roar and unleashed a wave of flame just as Seiyaryu released its fireball. The attacks sped towards each other with the force of bullet trains.

They collided.

The force of the explosion that resulted sent Yugi flying backward several feet. The inferno that blazed where the two monsters had been was so hot that some of the stones beneath glowed a vibrant orange, on the edge of melting. Yugi strained to see through the flames, yet they were blinding and neither dragon was visible.

"This is your demise, rebel!" Etos shouted over the roar of the flames. "For even if your monster defeated mine, yours would be gone too, and thus I would win, since I called the last attack!" (2)

After what seemed an eternity but was probably only a few seconds, the fires died. And in the haze of the battlefield, breathing raggedly and barely clinging to life, Blackland Fire Dragon emerged. Even while exhausted, the monster was still grinning from victory. Etos opened his mouth to gloat when a second figure also stepped from the smoke. Battered, charred in many places, and just as close to defeat as the other dragon, Seiyaryu stepped forward.

Etos was thunderstruck. "How! How did your monster survive? Yours is a weak, rebel nothing, while mine is as strong as the Empire... How?" Seiyaryu's eyes flashed; it still had one Action Point left with which to attack, and the Blackland Fire Dragon had none. "How did you win?" Etos muttered feebly as the fires of heaven crashed into his dragon and banished it to the depths of its jewel.

Yugi's glare matched Seiyaryu's. "With heart. And trust in my monsters."

Etos fell to his knees. Yugi exhaled loudly and gave Seiyaryu a gratifying gaze. The dragon nodded in acknowledgement, though it looked ready to collapse at a moment's notice. _I promise not to let that happen to you again_, Yugi vowed. He bent down and picked up Celtic Guardian's shiny green gem and was just about to get Magician of Faith's when Etos's sudden yell sliced the air. "Even if you did win, I can still eliminate your monsters!"

Etos leapt forward, clutching a part of a rock that had jarred loose in the explosion close. He raised it over his head and brought it down through the air above Magician of Faith's jewel. "NO!" Yugi cried yet in the same instant he had yelled a loud roar had rang through the air. A swift, tiger-striped dinosaur rushed forward from behind him and rammed its head into Etos's stomach. The man wheezed, then fell over, completely unconscious. The dinosaur snorted, having done its job well.

"Lord Yugi!" He spun around in the direction of the voice and saw Fizdis run towards him from the staircase. "Oh, you're all right! I waited thirty minutes like you said before coming in, but while Uraby and I were inside the castle we heard the explosion... We hurried up here as fast as we could..." Fizdis threw herself on Yugi in a hug. "Oh, Lord Yugi, I thought you had–"

"Shhh, calm down. I'm okay, see? I'm alive." Yugi patted her back awkwardly, trying to ease her sobs. Fizdis pulled back and looked up at him, tears lining her innocent black eyes. She sniffed and fervently rubbed the tears away. Behind her, Yugi could have sworn he saw Uraby roll its eyes.

"And what about you?" he asked, changing the subject. "You came all the way up here to help me, and you even defeated Etos!" Uraby snorted indignantly. "Okay, okay, you _and_ Uraby defeated Etos. But still! You showed great bravery to do that."

Fizdis looked down at her feet. "But I was only doing what you told me to do," she mumbled.

"It is one thing to act, and another to act as one tells you," Yugi said simply.

Fizdis nodded, though she didn't say anything. Yugi stole a glance at Etos, still lying unconscious on the ground. His three amulets containing his monsters glittered innocently around him in the moonlight. Yugi sighed and collected the first two, yet when he made for the one holding the Blackland Fire Dragon he jumped back suddenly.

Rainbow sparks flurried upward in a spiral, not of a single color like the other's had been but of all the colors of the rainbow. Slowly the dragon's translucent form came into view, a faint silver glow around its edges. The Blackland Fire Dragon looked at Yugi, and somehow the yellow irises that had one been angry and full of hatred now looked apologetic and solemn. It spoke in a soft roar, not one that condemned Yugi to death but that pleaded with him. Even though Yugi did not speak Dragon, the King of Games could still understand what was being "said."

"You're sorry," Yugi stated plainly. Fizdis whirled around in his direction and gasped when she saw the dragon; she hadn't noticed it appear and thought Yugi's words had been directed at her. "You didn't want to fight for the Empire, but you had no choice." Blackland Fire Dragon stared hard at Yugi. "And you want to make up for it." The Dragon nodded quietly.

Uraby hissed angrily. No good for nothing Duel Monster like him could be allowed into the rebellion so easily! Did it think them to be fools? No one goes from opposition to redemption so quickly! Yugi looked to Seiyaryu and expected his companion to feel the same, and yet the rose-colored dragon said nothing. Strangely, it was giving Blackland Fire Dragon a penetrating glare, checking it out all over, and Yugi had an odd feeling that those piercing sapphire eyes could see into the dragon's very soul. As the defender of light and destroyer of darkness, Seiyaryu could ultimately be the final judge of who was trustworthy and who was harmful.

"Well?" Yugi asked his dragon testily. Blackland Fire Dragon looked with pleading eyes at Seiyaryu, and for a moment, neither man nor beast moved or spoke. Then, with the very air of a royal declaration, Seiyaryu nodded in the Fire Dragon's direction.

He had passed.

Blackland Fire Dragon roared with glee. He growled something or other to Seiyaryu, a friendly growl, and Uraby rolled its eyes again. The rainbow light bubbled up again from the jewel and Blackland Fire Dragon vanished into its depths. Yugi picked up the still gem and looked at it fondly. _A new ally..._

And Yugi draped the chain around his neck, letting it join his other monsters.

"N-Now what, Sir?" Fizdis asked. Now that the action had passed, she was back to her usual timid self.

Yugi glanced up at the moon staring down at them like the unblinking eye of an owl. "We take out the trash," he said.

* * *

Shimon had made it about halfway to Jakhud when he ran into Yugi and Fizdis. He nearly fell over from shock when he saw Etos tied up and unconscious on Uraby's back. Even after losing his memory, Lord Yugi had still managed to defeat the enemy! Shimon knew of middle-aged men who were not as powerful as this youth, and at such a young age...

Oh, he knew Lord Yugi was special all right. He would amount to great things in the times to come.

* * *

Morning dawned as they traveled. The threesome continued on until Uraby stopped atop a hill. "There it is!" Fizdis squealed happily. Below the group of three, nestled between two hills, lay Phedon. "This is the town where Uraby and the others scared away the soldiers!" She bounced up and down from excitement. Uraby gave a loud sigh. Why oh why had he accepted this silly young _girl_ as his master?

Yugi studied the small buildings and houses with interest. "So this is Phedon? It's a nice little town."

"Quaint, indeed," Shimon agreed. "And they're waiting for you," he added.

"M-me?" Yugi stammered.

The older man nodded. "Of course! You took on the ruler of these lands, won, and freed the province! They'll be dying to see you up close."

Yugi sweatdropped. "But, surely they don't think me that great."

Fizdis looked down at her thumbs. "Well, when I was here last, I kinda' said some nice things about you..."

"Like what?"

"Uh... I think I mentioned you as being 'their savior in these dark times,'" she said sheepishly.

Yugi sighed heavily. "Gre-ea-eat. And I'm horrible at public speeches too."

* * *

When Yugi and the others rode into town, all the townspeople on the streets looked up. They immediately recognized Fizdis from yesterday, and when they saw Etos bound by ropes and gagged, they all stood agape at first before jumping for joy. Fizdis jumped off Uraby's back and greeted the townspeople happily, who in turn took to studying the other two members of the rebellion. At first glance, they thought Shimon to be the resistance leader, simply because he was eldest.

Everyone was shocked to learn that it was in fact Yugi, a child in his or her eyes, who defeated Etos.

But soon the shock wore off, and celebration followed, in which Yugi was passed around the crowd of people. After what seemed to be an eternity he broke free from the pressing villagers and went back over to Seiyaryu. He rubbed his hand fervently; he felt as though he must have shaken hands with everyone at least five times.

Seiyaryu gave a purring growl as Yugi stroked its neck affectionately. "I think you deserve the real credit for the fight," he murmured so that no one would overhear. Behind him, Shimon and Fizdis continued interacting with the crowd.

Yugi glanced down at the four amulets around his neck. The one that was his shone with the same vivid purple. Blackland Fire Dragon's hung dormant on its chain. Celtic Guardian's and Magician of Faith's jewels had regained their sparkle; it seemed the monsters had recovered from the fight. Yugi could almost feel the hearts of his monsters within the gems. Celtic Guardian was angry that he had been defeated and had failed his master. And Magician of Faith... she was fine, happy as can be.

Yugi saw this as a good thing. If she was okay, then somehow he _knew_ that Téa was okay, wherever she was in this world...

Yugi felt himself blushing and shook the thought out of his head. "I'll find her," he whispered to himself. Seiyaryu watched as Yugi's eyes narrowed in determination. "I swear on my life."

Seiyaryu only stared up at the bright blue sky.

* * *

(1) Isn't that what he'd do? Yugi's really protective of his monsters; he'd feel bad if one of them got destroyed.

(2) I don't know for sure if this is true in the game or not, but it makes sense, aye? Let's say Monster A was about to die and Monster B, who was poisoned and also about to die, attacked. Monster A would faint but Monster B would take damage from poison, thus they both die. Logically, the win should go to Monster B. However, I don't know if this is how it actually works in the game, so I may be wrong.

SC: (falls off chair) I finished it! YES:victory pose: Man, was that annoying to do. But anyway, for those of you who overlooked the obvious hints that I threw in there, this story has a MINOR (minor, minor, minor) amount of Yugi/Téa (although, since Dark Yugi/Yami's in control right now, it should really say Yami/Téa). This will really be the only time it's mentioned until several chapters in the future. It may come into play later; I haven't decided yet. But romance isn't a main plot device here and now.

Well, Blackland Fire Dragon has joined the fray. This will be important later, so remember it well!

Other than that, I have nothing more to say. Hope you enjoyed it! We'll end with a little bit of review responses.

**Neo the Mage-Blade**: You're the only reviewer for chapter two! Thanks for leaving one. Sorry, I don't plan to include any of those four monsters (Neo and Legendary Fisherman aren't even in the game, and I don't think Masaki is either. I know Kanan is, but her personality/strengths don't really match the characters well). Fusion, huh... I really don't use fusion when I play the card game. I only use it in the free-fuse games (that's what I call 'em anyway), where you just pick two cards and they automatically fuse. I grew up on that stuff, baby. :cough: But anyway, the only name for a Dark Magician that I know of belongs to a friend, so give me three seconds to come up with one that won't get me sued. :thinks: Okay, this is stupid, but how about something like Ombre? It's French for shadow; looks stupid in writing but sounds great out loud. I don't know. I suck at naming things.

To anyone who read the chapter, thank you! Please leave a review, and maybe you'll get a paragraph response like that one!


	4. Fury of the Empire, Part I

**Fury of the Empire**

_Yugi's resistance army decides to undertake its next mission before the Empire strikes back. With Tsughut confused about what to do, the resistance plans to free a large agricultural village in the South._

* * *

The first victory of the Resistance went over well. The people of the Makhad area as well as the rebels and their monsters are in high spirits. However, the celebrations can't last forever, and so Shimon brings out his maps for another round of planning. He and Yugi discuss their next mission in a room of the local inn. 

"Our success in freeing the Makhad area has strengthened the determination of the resistance supporters." Shimon looked to Yugi, anticipation in his eyes. "Let's strike the stores of imperial forces while morale is high. We can cut them off from their supplies." He tapped his finger on the parchment. "The southern part of the island is mostly farmland. The Empire works most of the farmers like slaves. If we can free this area, all supplies to Tsughut will be cut off, and we'll gain a significant advantage. However," he added, the tone of his voice going slightly darker, "General Sebeckal, one of the fiercest generals in the regular army, appears to be in the area."

"How much power does he have? Is he stronger than Etos?" asked Yugi.

Shimon nodded. "Sebeckal is a dangerous foe, well-known for his ferocity. I don't believe he has a large force with him, but we should still be careful not to make any mistakes!" He turned and studied the small sack of gold situated in the corner of the room. Beside it, three jars of blue liquid and one of gold powder glinted in the candlelight. "I believe we received some items from some of the supporters, correct?"

"Yes," Fizdis answered. She had just come up the stairs, carrying with her a tray with some food. She placed the tray on the table and took a seat across from Yugi. Unaware of just how hungry he had been until now, Yugi grabbed a roll and dug into it. "A young boy gave me one blue one and one gold one…"

"And I received two of the blue kind myself." Shimon paced over to the corner and collected the glass jars carefully in his arms. He placed them on the table beside the tray of food. Yugi set what was left of his roll down and picked up one of the bottles containing the blue liquid.

"Just what are these?" he asked, studying the bottle with interest. He turned the bottle around and the sparkling blue liquid swished, creating eddies of glitter.

"That is a type of recovery item, aptly named 'Blue Medicine.' During a battle or outside of one, it can heal some of the damage a monster has received. And this here," Shimon picked up the gold powder, "is another type of recovery item that revives a monster that has been defeated in battle. I am not sure as to what it is called."

"'Monster Reborn,'" Yugi replied reflexively.

Shimon stared at Yugi. "I suppose, Lord Yugi. Anyway, we'll need to divvy up these medicines before we head out tomorrow. Each monster can carry with them up to three items, for a total of nine on each team."

"I think," Yugi cut in, "that each one of us should take one of the Blue Medicines. At least that way it's fair."

"But then who will take the Monster Reborn?" asked Fizdis.

"Lord Yugi will take it." Shimon passed the bottle to Yugi. "Since he will be fighting Sebeckal and any other of the higher officers we meet, it is more important for him to be able to revive a monster than it is for either of us." Yugi nodded and set the glass bottle beside the blue medicine. "As for me, I think we're done planning for the night. Any last words for us, Lord Yugi?"

Yugi thought for a moment before saying, "Just get some rest. We're going to have a long day ahead of us, and as it looks, it may be more like several days."

_

* * *

That night, Yugi didn't get the rest that he prescribed the others. He tossed and turned in his bed, unable to remain peaceful as rough dreams invaded his head. _

_Yugi found himself standing in the middle of a huge meadow, with wildflowers hugging the hilltops all around him. A light breeze rustled his hair, carrying the bright sound of laughter to his ears. He turned and saw Fizdis and Shimon on the crest of a nearby hill. Four other people laughed with them, though Yugi could not identify them at this distance. All he could distinguish was their hair color: one blonde and unkempt, one brown and slicked forward into a spike, one flowing white, and a second brown one that fell to the person's shoulders. Wait a second…_

"_Joey? Tristan? Ryou? Téa? Is that you?" Yugi asked. The three unknown beings turned and waved at him. They motioned for him to join them on the hill. He smiled and was about to climb the hill when he felt something tug at his jacket. He turned around and saw Seiyaryu clinging to the tail of his jacket, eyes ablaze. Yugi tried to yank the fabric free but Seiyaryu kept it clamped obstinately in its beak. Just then Yugi heard the crash of a thousand bolts of lightning at once behind him._

_He whirled around to face where his friends had once been and saw only a great fire roaring atop the hill. The flames licked at the sky and tore ravenously through the wildflowers. In the middle of it all stood Haysheen, his dark, beady eyes aglow with smug satisfaction. He raised his hand and a flood of Duel Monsters spilled over the hill, all of them the most gruesome-looking fiend-type monsters. (1) The monsters roared with savage glee and brandished various rusted weapons, aiming for Yugi and Seiyaryu._

_Yugi paled at the sight and leapt onto Seiyaryu's back in a heartbeat. The small dragon flapped hurriedly up into the night sky. Seiyaryu tried to fly away quickly but the fire had leeched most of the oxygen from the air, causing it to lose energy fast. It flapped twice more in a futile effort to remain airborne; then in a faint sparkle of pink light Seiyaryu vanished into its jewel. Yugi cried out as his dragon disappeared beneath him and he fell to the ground with a thud. He tasted blood in his mouth as he struggled to push himself up from the ground._

_Yugi's widened violet eyes reflected the red light of fire and blood as he turned and saw the fiends bearing down on him…_

PROD. PROD.

"AAAAAH!" Yugi cried. His eyes flew open and caught sight of the darkened ceiling above him. He gasped for breath as he struggled to remember where he was. _Yugi, you're in an inn, in a town, in a virtual reality simulator. It was just a dream, it was just a…_ Twin sapphire eyes stared down at him, almost glowing with reflected moonlight from the window. "Aaah! Oh, it's just you, Seiyaryu." Seiyaryu growled in acknowledgement. "Was it you who woke me up?" Yugi asked, sitting up. The dragon nodded. "Well, thank you. You sure did time it right."

Yugi reached forward and stroked Seiyaryu's neck absently, his thoughts wandering back to the dream. Why had he seen his friends destroyed by Haysheen? Was this perhaps foreshadowing of events yet to come? (2) Seiyaryu saw Yugi's worried expression and rubbed its beak against his cheek. Yugi shook himself from his reverie and turned back to Seiyaryu with a weak smile. "Thanks for trying to make me feel better. You're a good friend, Seiyaryu." Seiyaryu purred and closed its eyes, giving a slight nip to Yugi's arm as a sign of affection.

Yugi chuckled lightly. He gave Seiyaryu one last pat on the head. "Come on, we need to go back to sleep. Especially you; you've got a big job to do tomorrow." Seiyaryu nodded and pulled back from Yugi's hand. With a yawning roar it nestled itself at the foot of Yugi's bed. (There was extra room there, for Yugi wasn't tall enough to fill the whole bed, and Seiyaryu was small enough to fit.) Yugi smiled and lay back onto his pillow. His thoughts lingered on the dream for only a moment before he shoved it off and rolled over into sleep.

* * *

The first light of the sun had barely touched the morning sky when Yugi felt a sharp prod on his temple. He turned away from the poke with a grumble. "It's too early to get up, Seiyaryu," he muttered. Seiyaryu gave an irritated growl. Carefully, the dragon grabbed the tip of one of Yugi's golden bangs in its beak, hesitated for a moment, then yanked hard. That got Yugi's attention immediately. 

"OW! Not the hair, not the hair!" He sat up quickly and hastily rubbed his eyes. "Okay, I'm up! You can let go now!" Seiyaryu glared and jerked on his hair again, pulling his head along with it. "OW! What do you want?" Seiyaryu rolled its eyes to the side. "What? I'm getting out of bed, don't worry! Sheesh!" Yugi threw back the covers and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He stood up just as Seiyaryu tugged on his hair again. The pull threw Yugi off balance, causing him to fall face-first to the floor.

"OW! Ugh, Seiyaryu!" Yugi peeled his face off the floor. Seiyaryu sweatdropped as Yugi stood up and dusted himself off. "Next time you want to get me out of bed, do it less painfully next time, okay?" Seiyaryu nodded fervently and brushed its beak against Yugi's arm apologetically. Yugi rubbed his cheek but stilled smiled at his dragon. "Heh, it's okay. It was an accident." Yugi yawned openly and stretched his arms above his head. "Let's go make sure the others are up," he said.

He slipped on his shoes that he left beside his bed, yawned again, and made for the oak door of his room. He clicked it carefully open, for there were no doubt other guests staying at the inn whom didn't want to be awoken this early. The next room over was Shimon's, and Yugi found that the door was already slightly ajar. He poked his head inside the room. "Shimon? Are you up?" he asked quietly.

"Yes. I've been up for a little while now," Shimon's voice answered from right behind Yugi.

"AAH!" Yugi cried, leaping about two feet off the ground. He whirled around and saw Shimon carrying the Blue Medicine and Monster Reborn from last night. "Shimon! You scared me!"

"Sorry, Lord Yugi. I was just making sure that Fizdis was up. Indeed, she is, but she's having a bit of trouble getting her dinosaur to wake up. I gave her one of the Blue Medicines and was about to go check up on you when you came to my room. Here," he passed the two bottles to Yugi, "these are for you."

"Thanks. But Shimon," Yugi began, "last night you said that monsters could hold these items?" Shimon nodded. "Then how…?"

Seiyaryu nudged Yugi in the arm. Yugi turned to face it and saw its eyes closed in concentration. A pale pink light glowed from the gem around its neck. The light splashed against the dark oak walls and engulfed the two bottles of medicine in Yugi's arms. They dissolved within the light, as though they had never been there. Abruptly, the light was sucked back into Seiyaryu's gem. Just like that, the items had been stored.

Yugi blinked a few times. "Never mind. Seiyaryu answered my question."

"Yes, well, I believe we should get going now. Lord Yugi, would you go help Fizdis wake up her dinosaur? I still have a bit of cleaning up to do." Shimon waved his hand at the parchment maps strewn about the table from last night.

Yugi smiled. "Sure thing. Seiyaryu, you can help too." He turned and walked down the hall to the next door, which belonged to Fizdis. Yugi eased the door open and peered inside. "Fizdis? Shimon said you needed help getting Uraby up…"

"Lord Yugi! Yes, please, would you help?" Yugi opened the door all the way and saw Fizdis kneeling beside a giant brown lump in the middle of the floor. As he moved closer, he found that the lump was actually Uraby, asleep with its tail curled around it. "He simply won't budge. I think he may be faking it, but with him you'd never know…"

Yugi leaned over and scrutinized Uraby. His breathing was slow and regular and his expression neutral, so unless he was _really_ good at faking it, he really was asleep. Yugi scratched the back of his head in thought. "Hmm… How to wake him up…" Fizdis looked to Yugi with her apprehensive brown eyes. Yugi was still thinking when Seiyaryu shoved past him suddenly. He stumbled a bit, but managed to prevent himself from falling.

"Seiyaryu, what are you doing?" he asked. Seiyaryu peered over Uraby with its keen eyes. It studied Uraby carefully; then after a satisfied snort it brushed its wings up and down Uraby's neck. Uraby's ruby eyes suddenly flew open. The dinosaur made an almost terrified growl and scrambled to its feet, eyes darting around the room. When they landed on Seiyaryu and found it grinning, Uraby gave an angry hiss.

"I don't believe it," Fizdis said with a giggle. "Uraby's ticklish!" Uraby glared at her as she continued to laugh.

Yugi turned to Seiyaryu. "You know, you're pretty good at waking people up Seiyaryu." Seiyaryu only continued to grin. Yugi gave a small chuckle before turning back to Fizdis. "Well, now that Uraby's up, we can leave." He looked out the window at the horizon, where the sun had just started coming up. "We need to make it to our destination before nine o'clock, otherwise we run the risk of being seen by the enemy."

Uraby nodded curtly, and suddenly was back to his "all about business" manner. With a snort he picked up the reigns from the foot of the bed in his teeth and spat them into Fizdis's arms. Uraby stood up unnaturally straight and held still as Fizdis attached the leather reigns to his neck. She gave Uraby a pat to the head once she had finished. "Come on, let's go downstairs, right, Uraby?" Yugi stepped aside as the two walked past and turned out of sight down the hall.

"Right. Seiyaryu, I left your reigns in my room. You go on downstairs and I'll catch up with you in a bit." Seiyaryu nodded and paced out of the room. Yugi went back to his room and grabbed the reigns hanging on the door handle. He gave one last glance around the room to assure that nothing had been forgotten, then turned and thumped down the stairs to the lobby below. Shimon met him as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Ah, Lord Yugi, there you are. We really must be leaving. Fizdis and Seiyaryu are already outside." He motioned to the door behind him. "Come, let's go." Yugi nodded and followed him out the door to where Fizdis sat atop Uraby and Seiyaryu stood off to the side. Seiyaryu purred when Yugi approached, earning more strokes to its neck. Gently, Yugi slipped the reigns over Seiyaryu's head and fastened them around its neck snugly. Seiyaryu bowed down and Yugi swung one leg over its back, pulling himself up with the reigns. He turned to Shimon.

"Is everything ready for us to take leave?" he asked.

"Yes, Lord Yugi. I've arranged a place for us to stay in the south. A contact of mine has offered to let us hide on his farm until night falls," Shimon said.

"But why do we have to wait until nighttime?" asked Fizdis.

"As I have said, the Empire works the farmers there to the bone. In order to maintain tight control over them, the Empire has set up many forts very near each other. That way, they can see the whole of the land around them," Shimon explained.

"Oh, I get it. Because it's all flat farmland, you can see everything that's going on in the fields from the towers. If you have enough towers, you can make sure everyone is working." Fizdis looked to Yugi. "But wouldn't that make it harder to sneak up on the enemy?"

"Yes," he answered. "That's why we have to hide out at this farm until night. Farmers do all of their work during the day, right? Because no one is outside at night, the guards don't keep as close a watch over the fields. It won't matter if we don't have any cover from the enemy, since they won't even be looking for us. All we need to do is take one fort and we'll have a means of attacking the others."

Fizdis nodded, though her chocolate brown eyes still shone with worry. "It sounds a little risky."

"War _is_ risky, Fizdis," Yugi answered. "But we have to do what we have to do, and we have to help those farmers in the south."

"Yes," Shimon agreed. He raised one of his monster's gems high, and in a flash of yellow light he summoned Kaiser Dragon. The serpentine dragon hissed a bit as it stretched from its sleep. "I've changed my team leader to Kaiser Dragon temporarily. We need to get to our destination as quickly as possible, so I suppose I'll be flying there this time. After all, flight is faster than walking." Uraby snorted indignantly. _He_ wouldn't be walking at all. He'd run the whole way just to prove that he could keep up without being able to fly.

"Right. Let's go!" Yugi dug his heels into Seiyaryu's sides, and with a roar the rose-colored dragon flapped into the air. Kaiser Dragon followed suit and took off as well. The two dragons flew with a fair amount of speed along the main road of the town, Uraby following close behind. Soon the town fell behind them and the open hills of the countryside were their only companions.

* * *

The resistance traveled for near two hours, before Shimon informed them that they were near their target. 

"The farm is in the nearby area," he said. "We should keep a lookout for it, as well as for imperial soldiers or any other farmers who may alert the Empire of our arrival."

"Right," Yugi said. He directed Seiyaryu to slow down. Shimon and Fizdis did the same, earning appreciative pants from Uraby.

"I told you you'd get tired!" Fizdis said accusingly. "I asked you three times if you wanted us to slow down for awhile so you could catch your breath, but no! You had to act all tough! Now you're exhausted, and when we start fighting you'll be too tired to – "

"That's enough, Fizdis," Yugi said. "Uraby was just trying to get us here on time. Remember that he's carried _you_ on his back the whole time. Yelling at him for doing you such a big favor won't make him any less tired."

Fizdis blushed and looked down at her fingers that were habitually twiddling together. "S-Sorry, Lord Yugi, I didn't mean to yell…"

"It's all right. But will you stop calling me 'Lord' Yugi? I already asked you not to."

"I'm sorry Lo- I mean, Yugi." Fizdis's face burned a deeper red.

The Kaiser Dragon gave an urgent hiss. Shimon nodded and said to the other two members of the resistance, "We have arrived at our destination. The farm we seek is over there." He pointed to a small, mud-brick house, beside which stood a rickety old barn.

Yugi studied it thoroughly. "It's modest enough – the Empire certainly won't think to look for us here."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Fizdis dug her heels into Uraby's sides and the tiger-striped dinosaur zoomed forward, towards the farm. Seiyaryu and Kaiser Dragon didn't even bother to keep up. They flew along at a moderate pace, allowing their passengers to converse on the way.

"Shimon, I know we have a figure on how many imperial troops are in the area, but how many of them are marshals?" asked Yugi.

"I'm not completely sure," Shimon replied, shaking his head. "There's at least one for every fort in the area, and there may be more."

"So…?"

"Four of them, at least."

Yugi flinched. "It was bad enough just taking on Etos, but now you're telling me that there are _four_ of them this time?"

"Our situation isn't as bad as it seems, Lord Yugi. This time, we have the means to take a fort… And then we'll have a better defense for when we fight."

"If you say so…"

The pair arrived at the barn. A weathered man whom was probably a lot younger than he looked greeted them at the entrance. His skin was dark and leathery from his endless hours of labor in the sun. "Welcome, Resistance," he said in a humble voice. "I thank you for deeming our area worthy of your… effort."

"Don't thank us; we're only doing our duty," replied Shimon.

"Besides," said Yugi, "we should be thanking you for letting us stay on your farm. I trust the penalty for being caught with us is great?"

"Why, yes…" the farmer answered nervously. "Death or higher." He wrung his hands a bit fearfully at the thought. "But that is not important. Hurry, get inside the barn before the guards ascend the watchtowers and see you. It's nearly time for them to do so… This way." He waved a callused hand at the barn door, which was already slightly ajar.

Yugi nodded and slid off Seiyaryu's back. He gripped the reins and led the rose-colored dragon into the barn. The air inside was thick with dust and the scent of hay. Fizdis had found a stool and was sitting on it, but other than that it was empty.

The farmer read Yugi's expression and said, "I had to sell off all my livestock in order to keep my farm… The Empire was threatening to claim it from me." His face turned sad and he looked away.

"Anyway," he continued, "stay in here until night falls. Do not leave for any reason – the Empire sees all that happens on this land. My wife will come by later with a bit of food and drink should you need it." With that, the farmer left the barn and slid the door shut behind him. What little light there was in the barn dimmed and Yugi became suddenly aware of how stuffy it was. Violet eyes scanned the room. A rusty tool here, a spider web there – all in all, it looked as though it hadn't been used in months.

His eyes fell on Fizdis and he approached her. "Say Fizdis, where'd Uraby go?"

Fizdis raised her hand and pointed to one of the nearby stalls. The rickety door, off kilter on its hinges, had been jammed closed. One could almost hear the "Come inside and I'll redefine grumpy for you" within the warning growl that came from behind it.

Yugi recoiled a bit. "Ah, okay." He sighed and sat down on a pile of hay. Tiny shafts poked at his back but he ignored them. "It's probably a good idea that he gets some rest. We need to recharge for later, since we'll be up all night." Yugi leaned back against the wall. The smell of hay was almost hypnotic and his eyelids drooped. Above him, Seiyaryu had found a comfortable rafter and was nestled into a ball.

"Uh-huh," agreed Fizdis through a yawn. The floor suddenly looked very appealing and she slid from her stool, resting her head on the hay where Yugi sat. She was asleep not a minute afterward. Yugi tried to stay awake, but he didn't hold out much better than Fizdis before his eyes closed. He lied down on the hay next to Fizdis, the tips of his crimson-and-black hair just missing the top of her head. In another moment he was asleep, regaining what he had lost from his nightmare the previous night.

Kaiser Dragon coiled up in a corner and gave a sighing hiss. Beside the dragon, on a commandeered stool, Shimon cast a gaze over his sleeping teammates. He murmured something resembling "Ah, children," before pulling his hat lower over his eyes and following their lead.

* * *

Well guys, I guess I owe you all an apology. I could go into an hour-long rant, containing many an excuse, but I'll just leave that all out. I just plumb haven't worked on this thing at all. In fact, I need to go rediscover my notebook with all my game notes in it… Bah. Anyway, this chapter had nothing happen in it, except bore everyone. But if I had kept it with the rest of the chapter, it would've been too long… Compromise? (sheepish grin) 

Notes? Uh…

(One) Orcs, anyone?

(Two) Heh, foreshadowing. When I wrote this, it was right after a joke with me and my friends involving foreshadowing… it's not really funny anymore, but what the hey?

Well now, it seems no one has reviewed. Uh… If anyone is actually reading this anymore, will you please review? Heh heh (mutter) I'm so pathetic…


	5. Fury of the Empire, Part II

**Fury of the Empire, Part II**

SC: Hmm. And here we take an unexpected turn. (Muahaha.) You know that note at the end of chapter three, where I said romance wouldn't be a major factor? Well, when I posted that, it was true. Not anymore. For all you fans out there, the romance will get fairly serious at some point, although it will be pretty far in the future from here. I am what I call a "Traditional Pairing Fangirl." This means that I only support the pairings hinted at in the show itself (how lame, I know.) I won't outright say the pairing, but you should be able to figure them out for yourself with that "hint."

However, since the pairing I really like hasn't arrived yet, I'm afraid I can't do much with romance untilit does. Ah well. We'll have to wait.

…

Would it be going too far to say that this is the only story on this sitethat has Fizdis in it? That sort of makes me feel special. :grin: Since that appears to be true, I've decided to take an "unexpected turn," which I mentioned above. Hee, hee. Read on to find out what it is. (lightning in background) AH HA HAAAAAA!

* * *

The afternoon sun stared down at the farm where the resistance was hiding. A grasshopper buzzed into the barn through a thin crack and landed on the hay just in front of Fizdis's nose. She heard the sound and her eyes fluttered blearily open. For a moment her chocolate gaze wandered in the rafters before coming to rest on the grasshopper. 

There was a pause. Then: "Eeek!" She gave a frightened squeak and sat up quickly. The grasshopper jumped up and buzzed somewhere else in the barn. Fizdis gasped for air until she found her breath. After a moment she looked around at the rest of the barn. Shimon and his Kaiser Dragon were snoozing lightly in the corner opposite her. Judging by the loud snoring coming from within the nearby stall, Uraby was sacked out as well.

Her hand brushed against something softer than the hay beneath her. She looked over her shoulder and found that her fingers were entwined within Yugi's hair. Her face flushed in an instant, and yet… she didn't move her hand away. Maybe it was just the shock of the situation that had paralyzed her. Or, maybe it was the fact that his hair felt smooth and glossy against her skin.

This puzzled her. Surely, hair thrust upward into powerful spikes, harsh and almost foreboding in appearance should feel like how it looked: sharp, unnatural… tense. Yet the crimson, black, and golden fibers flowed over her fingers as she combed them through to the end of the middle spike. Fizdis found herself thinking of satin or some other wondrous fabric, but shook it off. Why did any of this matter?

Yugi stirred and gave a slight sigh in his sleep. Fizdis's hand jerked back to her side. Frightful eyes stared down at him, praying that he hadn't felt her touch and would forgive her if he had… The resistance leader remained still. He had not woken up. A relieved sigh escaped Fizdis's throat.

To take her mind off of things, she stood on her still half-asleep legs and hobbled over to one of the barn's windows. Thick planks had been nailed across it to prevent anyone from seeing inside, but Fizdis found a gap in the boards just wide enough for her to see out of. Outside, the sun baked the land like an earthen brownie. She could see silvery wisps of heat rising from the flattened landscape. Like serpents they twisted upward to the sky, looping in and around each other and distorting her view of the horizon. She watched them dance for a few minutes, absorbed by their hypnotic rhythm.

Fizdis broke from her reverie when she heard a faint clicking sound. She turned to see where it had come from just as the barn door slid open. Fizdis jumped at the unexpected action; she was sure her heart would have leapt out of her mouth had not her teeth been clenched. A tanned face poked through the gap. Coarse braids draped over the concerned face and dark eyes of a middle-aged woman.

"Hello," she whispered. She lifted a bucket from the ground behind her and set it just inside the door. From her other hand she produced a sizable ladle. "I have brought you some water. It's not much, but with a heat like today's I thought you would need it."

"Yes, thank you," Fizdis whispered back. She walked quietly forward and took the ladle from her. With a gesture toward her sleeping comrades she said, "I will save this until my teammates are awake."

The woman smiled. "You're so thoughtful. It's a lucky thing the resistance has kind people like you within it."

Fizdis blushed slightly. "Don't give me all the credit, Ma'am… I just follow our leader's example."

"Ah, yes. I saw him earlier through a window." The woman leaned to the side a bit and stared past Fizdis at the youth curled up on the hay. "Such a clever boy, and so young!" She chuckled. "He must be quite the fighter too, to have defeated Etos. I'd wager half the farmers in this land couldn't take Etos if they pooled their effort!" She laughed again and turned back to Fizdis. "Can I be of any more help to you, sweet child?"

Shaking her head, Fizdis replied, "No, but thank you. You've already given up so much for our sake." She bent forward in a bow.

"No, no. It's nothing. I wish you good luck in the coming fight." With that, the woman eased the door shut. The crunch of her footsteps in the dry soil faded away, until all was quiet once again. After a moment Fizdis lifted the bucket of water and moved it back to the pile of hay where Yugi was asleep. She sat carefully, not wanting to disturb him, and gripped the ladle in her hands. A dip in the bucket and soon cool water was at her lips. She swallowed a mouthful and paused as it slid down her throat. The crystalline water tasted of minerals; it had to be spring water, from a well nearby.

She placed the ladle gently on the floor. A faint sparkle glinted in her eye and her attention was drawn to the three gemstones around her neck. One was hers. The other two belonged to her monsters, Two-Headed King Rex and Megazowler. Fizdis hadn't really gotten to know these two yet. She hadn't even fought before – not truly, in a battle. With so many Imperial forces in the area, she knew Yugi would call upon her to combat the enemy… but would she be able to do it?

Fizdis generally disliked fighting. She always hoped to avoid it, or find a different way to sort things out. She knew that there was no way to do so now. A war is a war, and it can only mean violence. Fizdis sighed and brought her knees up to her chin. Her arms wound fretfully around her legs. She didn't think she'd be ready to fight. Especially not against monsters that could rip into her, should they break her defense of dinosaurs… The image scared her and she shook it from her mind.

Her thoughts and eyes then jumped to Yugi. He was hardly older than she was, maybe by two years, and already braver than some grown men. How fearless he must be on the battlefield… Fizdis had only seen the tail end of his battle with Etos, but it was all that was needed. It had been awe-inspiring to see his dragon vanquish the last of the enemy in a single shot. How could she ever compare to someone like that?

Fizdis pondered over that question for a time, but could find no answer on her own. She gave up and curled back up on the hay, beside her sleeping idol. Soon she had rejoined him in the land of dreams.

* * *

Slanting beams of fiery orange filtered through the boards covering the windows. One such beam of light struck Yugi in the face. He groaned and raised his hand to block out the light. "_I hate sunlight_," he muttered in a sleepy daze before his senses came back to him. Sunlight coming into the barn meant that the sun was now setting. That meant it was almost time for the resistance operation to begin. 

Yugi sat up and gave a deep yawn. He pushed his golden bangs out of his bleary eyes. As he did so, he noticed tiny pieces of hay clinging to them. He groaned again. It would take years to get all the hay out of his hair. Yugi mentally cursed himself for falling asleep on something like hay. _Never again!_ he swore to himself. He shook his head in a dog-like manner to throw off some of the dusty yellow shafts clinging like burs to his hair. The bits of hay settled to the ground and almost glinted in the vibrant orange light.

Yugi craned his neck up and spied Seiyaryu in the rafters. A pair of sapphire eyes blinked back down at him with a ruffle of rose-colored feathers. Yugi smiled at his dragon. "Good morning – uh, evening, Seiyaryu. Did you sleep well?" Seiyaryu purred warmly and ruffled its feathers again. Yugi laughed. "That's good. You'll need the energy for tonight.

"As for me, I can't believe I slept the whole day." Yugi stretched his arms out above his head. He stood up from the pile of hay and dusted off his jeans. "Maybe I'm turning nocturnal," he joked. Seiyaryu growled in agreement. It spread its wings, dove off the rafter, and fluttered down to the floor. Yugi reached out habitually and stroked his dragon's neck. The scales felt smooth and cool in the warm sunlight.

Speaking of which… Yugi's attention wandered from Seiyaryu to the window on his left. His hand left Seiyaryu's neck as he walked over to the source of the orange light. He found a space in the boards and peered through it. The sun nearly blinded him when first he looked, but soon his eyes readjusted to the light and could see the landscape normally. The earth was a fiery orange-red, swathed in sunlight. Just to the right, etched in black against the sky, stood an Imperial guard tower. Yugi's eyes narrowed as he studied the object thoroughly. It wasn't well fortified (for whom would ever attack it?), but it still kept an ominous watch over the lower lands around it. A black silhouette flew out of the structure and off to some unknown location.

_One of the enemy's monsters_, thought Yugi. He followed it with stern violet eyes until it disappeared from his field of view. Yugi exhaled a breath he had unknowingly held. He heard Seiyaryu walk up behind him and give a determined growl.

"So," he said quietly. "It all begins with this…"

The fight against Etos had been simply that: an easy fight. But now, with more enemy forces in the area, it was becoming like the actual _war_ that the game overview had foreshadowed. A war could not be won with three people, even with the world's best tactics. What the resistance needed was reinforcements, more marshals and more monsters at their disposal. After this battle, Yugi would see to it that finding new members become a top priority.

"Beginnings are not so important," said a voice. Yugi jumped and saw Shimon standing farther away, in the shadows of the barn. "What matters is the outcome at the end."

"True," agreed Yugi. He sighed and turned back to the window. "But I'm not so sure the outcome will be favorable."

"Do not sound so doubtful, Lord Yugi. Many people, myself included, have faith and know that we will emerge victorious here – "

"Here is not where I am concerned about," Yugi interrupted. "The forces on this island are at the bottom of the barrel, the Empire's weakest." His hand curled into a fist and thumped against the windowpane. "We may scrape through here, and there, but after that we stand knee-high to the mainland Imperial army."

"Lord Yugi…" Shimon began.

Yugi turned and faced Shimon. Once again the setting sun's light stained his eyes a deadly crimson with its glow. "But don't mistake this for weakness. Don't you dare think I'm going to let them trample over us. They outweigh us only in number. On our side we carry the support of the populace and the light of a good cause. So when the 'almighty,'" Yugi made quotation marks in the air with his fingers, "Emperor Haysheen finally shows his cowardly face to me, I'll stomp it lower than his hollow heart." (1)

Seiyaryu roared valiantly with the end of his master's speech. Though impossible to know for sure, Shimon appeared to be smiling beneath the veils of his hat.

"What's going on?" came Fizdis's dazed voice. She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Are we – yawn – are we being attacked?"

Yugi laughed. "No, no. Seiyaryu just wanted to wake everyone up. Isn't that right, Seiyaryu?" The rose-colored dragon roared again, sapphire eyes sparkling with an internal light.

An annoyed growl spilled into the air from the closed stall. A moment later Uraby poked his head over the door. His ruby eyes were still a bit glazed over from sleep. He hissed angrily at Seiyaryu before forcing the stall door open with a whack from its tail. Fizdis giggled as Uraby came to stand next to her. She patted the side of his neck playfully. "And a good morning to you too, Mister Grumpy." Uraby snapped a hiss; grumpy, he! He just didn't appreciate being woken up by Seiyaryu twice in one day.

The sun balanced on the world's edge. Fizdis remembered the water the farmer's wife had brought and showed it to the others. Everyone took a share before letting Uraby gulp down what was left in the bucket. Seiyaryu laughed above the rest the bucket was knocked over in Uraby's haste. The dinosaur snapped his jaws at Seiyaryu, but did nothing beyond that.

Just then, the barn door opened and the farmer appeared. "My friends, the Imperial marshals have left their posts for the night," he informed them. "There are no forces anywhere near to know of your approach. You may take your leave when you feel the time is right…"

"Thank you," said Yugi. He cast a sideways glance at Shimon, then knelt down beside the bag containing their supplies. Yugi pulled from it a small drawstring bag. The jingle of loose coins resonated in the air as he held it out to the farmer. "For your troubles," he said, "and your aid."

The farmer gasped. "Sir! You needn't give up your gold – "

"We won't be needing it where we're going. You, however, can use it." Yugi said the last part sternly, indicating that not taking the gold was not an option. The farmer nodded and stepped forward, taking the gold from Yugi's hand.

"Thank you, Sir," he mumbled with his eyes to the floor.

"Now, Shimon, Fizdis," Yugi turned around to face his troops. "We need to get a move on. As soon as night has completely fallen we shall strike. Are your monsters ready?"

"Kaiser Dragon and I are ready for any orders you give us, Lord Yugi," replied Shimon. He beamed at the young resistance leader and flashed a wink.

Fizdis hesitated. "Uh…" She glanced nervously at her dinosaur. "Uraby…?" The tiger-striped dinosaur hissed and thumped his tail against the ground. Inwardly, Fizdis was both glad and downtrodden. Her monster was ready to go; he would fare well in a fight. But Fizdis doubted whether she was as ready as her monster was.

"Same for us, Yugi," she answered.

"Good." Yugi looked over at the window again. The sun had gone to bed behind the horizon. Only the last pale orange rays still lit the sky. He watched the horizon with narrowed eyes. Fizdis glanced at him concernedly and saw the crimson glow overtake his irises. She shivered; Yugi looked almost like a demon with such an intense expression. Fizdis wanted to shake him back to normal but stood rooted to the spot.

Orange curled up within deep navy veils. Like many-faceted diamonds the stars blinked on in the sky. The moon rose from beneath the world and cast pale silver beams across the land. Yugi turned from the window to Seiyaryu. His dragon gave an encouraging growl and Yugi smiled before reassuming his focused demeanor.

To his troops he said, "Let's go."

* * *

The night's cool breath rustled Yugi's hair and Seiyaryu's feathers. The pair flew silently along, toward the watchtower that Yugi had spied earlier. No lights were on in the tower. The land around them was pitch black, except for the faint light the moon provided. 

"It's awfully quiet," said Yugi after a moment. The silence had been bugging him. He didn't like the fact that the enemy wasn't even watching their own tower. "There doesn't appear to be any enemy movement."

Shimon nodded. "Yes, we seem to be lucky. The enemy doesn't seem to know we're here. According to our scouts, the closest fort isn't guarded at all."

"No marshals?" asked Fizdis.

"No, none at all. There might be a few unarmed guards, but no monsters to deal with." Kaiser Dragon brought its wide golden wings down and surged forward a few yards. Shimon waited until Seiyaryu caught up before continuing. "Let's use this opportunity to take the fort and fortify a defensive position. We'll stand a much better chance against their forces."

"Right," Yugi agreed. Seiyaryu growled urgently and dipped to the right to seize Yugi's attention. He looked up and saw the watchtower looming near. "All right. Seiyaryu, you can land." The rose-colored dragon nodded and fluttered slowly to the ground. Yugi hopped off its back, giving Seiyaryu a quick pat to the neck.

"From here on out, it's stealth, okay?" he said. Seiyaryu nodded.

Uraby trundled up beside him. Fizdis jumped off so quickly she nearly fell flat on her face. "Y-Yugi, sir," she stammered, clinging to Uraby's neck for support. "What are your orders…?"

Yugi chuckled at her clumsiness, despite the stern nature of the situation. "Hold on for a minute," he said. "Let me think." Moonlight glinting in his eyes, Yugi leaned back to get a better look at the structure before him. A high fence of wooden posts surrounded the main part of the watchtower. The tower itself was spindly looking and roughly built. The Empire hadn't even bothered to hammer down all the nails completely. It looked as though it had been built in a hurry. Yugi noticed that even the wall around the tower had sizable gaps in it, and the posts wobbled when he pushed on them. He rolled his eyes. These guys really _weren't_ expecting company.

"Shimon, Fizdis," Yugi whispered, "you stay here until I give you the all-clear." He looked to Fizdis expectantly. She was shivering, and Yugi hoped it was because of the cool night air and not fear. He ignored the unsettling feeling in his stomach and turned to his dragon. "Seiyaryu, you're with me. Come on."

Slowly, Yugi crept along the fortress wall, Seiyaryu tip-toeing behind him. He stopped in a place where the moonlight shone directly down on him. On the other side, with the wall, everything would be completely in shadows. He found another gap in the wall and peered through it. Nothing appeared to be on the other side. Everything was clear, and silent except for the wind and the sound of his breathing.

Seiyaryu nudged Yugi in the shoulder. The dragon lowered its neck so that Yugi could slip onto its back. With a light fluttering sound the two rose into the night sky and disappeared over the sharpened tips of the wooden posts. They settled onto the hardened ground below. Yugi slid off his dragon and pressed himself against the shadowy wall. His eyes darted around for a moment, following flickers of shadows, tracing anything that could mean movement of an enemy. The back of Yugi's neck prickled with anxiety. Even though the place looked empty, something about it just didn't seem on the level to him.

He cut through the shadows back to where he had left the others. Yugi found a gap in the posts and hissed through it. "Fizdis!" She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound. When her eyes found Yugi's peeking through the wall, she relaxed maybe one hair. "Seiyaryu is going to carry you over the wall."

Fizdis found the ability to nod after a swallow. Mentally she snapped at herself. Why was she getting so nervous? The fort wasn't even occupied! There'd be no one there for her to fight! She didn't realize her grip on Uraby's neck was tightening. It took a loud snort from her dinosaur partner for her to notice she was nearly strangling him. Fizdis jerked her arms back to her sides.

"Y-Yes, Yugi," she half-whispered, half-squeaked.

A sound like a sigh came from the other side of the wall, though it could have been the wind. "All right. Return Uraby to his gem for a minute. There's no other way to get him over."

Uraby froze. With an almost whining snort he shook his head. Nope, he wasn't going back into that gem. Not this dinosaur. He didn't like it, and he was going to do his best to get out of it. He took a step back when Fizdis approached him, his gem clutched tightly in his claws.

"Come on, Uraby, you heard what Yugi said…" she tried in vain. Uraby shook his head again and backed even farther out of her reach. He did an elaborate jump to when she dove for him and his gem. "Come _on!_ Uraby…!"

Yugi could have slapped himself in the forehead. He swore he felt his eye twitch in annoyance. "_Uraby!_" he snapped. Uraby's ruby eyes traveled innocently over to meet Yugi's in the gap. "Return to your gem, _please_. We need you in here, and… and…" He trailed off, trying to think of something threatening to say. "…And if you don't want to do it, that's fine, but just take note of one thing first. There are lots of other monsters that would be willing to follow orders in your place."

Uraby made a gagging sound. Replacement! Was the resistance leader actually suggesting something like that? A flash of amber light burst from his jewel and swallowed his form. The gem fell to the ground with a soft clink. Fizdis sighed and scooped up her monster. "I guess I'm all set over here, Yugi," she said.

"Good. Here comes Seiyaryu." Right on cue the rose-colored dragon fluttered into view and landed in front of Fizdis. Tentatively she slid one leg over its neck and pulled herself on. When she was on securely Seiyaryu flew back over the wall. Fizdis nearly fell off when the pair landed on Yugi's side.

"Oof!" she exclaimed. Her left leg hooked under Seiyaryu's neck was the only thing holding her on.

"Fizdis, quiet!" Yugi urged. "We still need to be careful. Though we haven't seen any yet, there still could be Imperial forces here…" Fizdis nodded and clambered carefully down from Seiyaryu's back. She smoothed the front of her skirt hastily.

"S-Sorry…" came her habitual apology.

Yugi's expression turned slightly guilty. He hadn't meant to be so harsh to her. "No, it's okay. But let's keep our eyes peeled, all right?" Yugi moved back over to the wall. "Shimon, you'll stand guard out there for now."

"Yes, Lord Yugi," he replied.

"Okay." Yugi turned back to Fizdis and Seiyaryu, and motioned for them to follow him. "Come on; we're going to make sure this place is deserted." Both his companions nodded.

The perimeter of the structure seemed devoid of the enemy, but there was more to be examined. Aside from the watchtower, there were crates as tall as Yugi stacked around the center area. They formed a labyrinth of shadows, with passages as thin as a few inches and as big as several feet. Anything could be hiding in there, as long as it was roughly the size of a person.

That was all that mattered, as anything that size could pose a threat. Yugi's eyes narrowed as he stared at the wall of crates. "Stay close," he whispered over his shoulder. "We're going in there."

Fizdis made a sound like she was going to disagree, but no words came out. A chilling breeze swept over the land and surged past the resistance members. It seemed to shove them forward, closer into the shadowed maze. With a gulp Fizdis squeezed Uraby's gem tighter in her hand; it gave off a quick pulse of amber light, as a sign of reassurance.

Seiyaryu was glued to Yugi's side as he wandered through the massive crates. He wasn't sure what he was looking for. He was sure, though, that something was off about the situation. Why would the Empire build such a temporary-looking structure, and yet fill it with so many boxes of supplies? Fizdis trailed behind the resistance leader by several feet, her eyes darting down the corridors the crates created as though expecting to see a monster bearing down her.

Yugi's bangs swung to the left as another breeze blew past. He had taken a few steps beyond that before he paused. That wind had come from his right-hand side.

But hadn't it been _behind_ them a moment before?

Yugi's eyes widened and his face turned suddenly pale. His mind voiced another fearful question: why had that breeze been _warm?_ He swiveled around, his feet somehow rooted to the ground. Fizdis was now even with the box where Yugi had felt the unnatural breath of wind. He noticed a crack in one of the planks, less than an inch wide.

Twin beads of yellow glinted inside the crate.

Fizdis saw Yugi's worried expression, and stopped directly in front of the box. "Yugi, what's wrong?" she asked.

Yugi's stomach cart-wheeled. "Fizdis!" he cried. "Get away from there! That crate, it's – "

"SHHHKREEEEEE!" A horrible screech rattled the already chilled night air. The crate suddenly shattered, splinters flying everywhere. Fizdis screamed and covered her head. A blood red, lobster-like monster emerged from the remnants of the crate. It snapped its huge pincers inches above Fizdis's head.

Yugi had just enough time to identify the monster, "A Zarigun!" when another crash sounded from Fizdis's left. A second crate containing a monster had broken open. This monster was covered in pitch-black and indigo scales. It almost could have been a giant serpent, except that just beneath the reptilian head was a humanoid one, as well as a pair of arms. One arm held a silver sword, the other, a shield. It was an Embodiment of Apophis, a monster Yugi remembered seeing in Joey's fight with Odion during Battle City. The Apophis Serpent hissed angrily, lowering its snake head to meet Fizdis's. (2) She shrieked again and fell to her knees. The duo of monsters loomed over her, pinning her escape on either side.

"HA HA HA!" came a resounding voice from somewhere above. "The rats have taken the bait and entered my maze!" Yugi craned his neck back and saw a figure perched atop the watchtower. The figure spread its leathery wings and plummeted down from the tower. It landed just behind Fizdis's shuddering form. She was boxed in on three sides, with the fourth facing Yugi. Now in the visible moonlight, Yugi could see that the figure was actually a Duel Monster: Kryuel, a fiend-type monster known for its wickedness. Aside from the leathery wings and magenta skin, the beast had twisted horns and formidable claws; truly a demon among its kind. It carried a long staff, with a blade affixed to the end. He recognized it as the silhouette he had seen leaving the watchtower earlier.

The resistance leader recovered his voice and called out into the night. "Show yourself! Who are you?" Seiyaryu's eyes were ablaze as it growled menacingly at the three imposing monsters.

The voice laughed darkly. "Who am I? I am about to be one very rich and promoted marshal of the Imperial Army. After all, I'm about to defeat the _dreaded_ Resistance." Yugi's eyes focused on a man standing on the upper level of the watchtower. Most of his face was hidden beneath the gold mask he wore over his eyes. He bore the uniform of the Imperial Army: a silver chest plate beneath a gold collar, and a red cape billowing behind. The man ignored the ladder and jumped down to the ground. He looked at Fizdis, whimpering beneath his monsters, and laughed. "Ha! You're more of an idiot that I previously thought, Rebel – bringing a sniveling _girl_ with you to fight!" Apophis Serpent hissed again and Fizdis could only reinforce the man's accusation with a squeak.

Yugi had managed to uproot his legs and took a step forward. "Keep your insults to yourself! It'll take more than a few names to 'defeat the Resistance,' so you say!"

"Oh, really?" The Imperial guard clicked his tongue in disapproval. "You're right, it _did_ take more that name-calling: it also took the double-crossing of a peasant farmer. All that was needed to snap him was the promise of gold, and boom! He told us everything he knew about your advancement on this tower tonight."

At this, Yugi's jaw dropped slightly open. "What…? He couldn't have…" Yet he had. The farmer had turned them in to the Empire, for money. A bubble of anger rose in Yugi's throat and he fought the urge to growl.

The Imperial guard chuckled. "People are fickle, and easy to tempt. They're also easy to destroy." He looked to his monster, Kryuel, and smirked. "Let's take care of this little girl, eh? Attack!" Kryuel raised his staff from his side. A moment's pause, then something like a lightsaber flickered on around the blade, burning with intense blue heat. Kryuel gripped the saber in both hands and raised it high. Fizdis did not see the impending attack, as her eyes were clenched shut from fright.

"Fizdis, look out!" cried Yugi. Seiyaryu roared and a flash of amber light poured from nowhere just as Kryuel brought down the saber. The light blinded everyone's eyes, but did not hinder their ears. The wind carried a pained hiss and a sizzling sound to meet them. When his eyes had readjusted Yugi saw Uraby standing protectively over Fizdis, his great body shielding her from the sword's blow. A long, black char mark was visible on the dinosaur's back, where the lightsaber had burned him.

"So, you're actually going to summon your monsters and put up a fight?" the Imperial guard asked with a frown. "So be it. Now all three of my monsters can have a turn with you."

Fizdis squeaked. "N-No w-wait, I – " she stammered.

This time, Yugi wasn't going to let the enemy get in a free shot. "Oh no you don't!" he cried. "Let's go, Seiyaryu!" His dragon agreed and flapped forward. Both of them ran to try and get between the enemy and Fizdis –

An invisible barrier came to greet them.

"GAH!" Running headlong into the wall sent Yugi reeling back into one of the nearby crates. The box cracked, but didn't give out from under him, causing his back a great deal of pain. Seiyaryu met a similar fate with the dirt catching its fall. Yugi tried to push himself up, failed, and groaned. His vision swirled with blurry shapes and stars. He rubbed his forehead, where he had hit the barrier.

"_What did we… hit?_" he asked Seiyaryu thickly. The dragon growled dazedly in reply. Yugi willed his head to stop spinning, his eyes following suit shortly after. He looked to where the barrier had been and saw a glowing green line traced across the ground. "What the…?" The line curved, forming a circle around himself and Seiyaryu. He moved to its edge and raised his hand. The air felt solid beneath his palm. (3)

"We can't get out!" he said frantically to Seiyaryu. _It must be one of the mechanisms of the game… It has to make sure that only one person fights one person at a time. No teaming up… and no helping Fizdis._ Yugi pounded his fist on the barrier. "Fizdis! Get up!" he cried. "You have to summon your monsters and fight back! I'm stuck in here; I can't help you fight him off!"

Fizdis looked at him from beneath Uraby. "I can't!" she exclaimed frightfully. "I-I… I've never fought before! I can't do it!"

"Yes you can!" countered Yugi. "I'd never fought before until Etos; you can handle it, I'm sure! You've got three dinosaurs, three friends on your side! All of them, plus Seiyaryu and myself believe in you!"

"B-But…" Tears had started to well up in Fizdis's eyes. Uraby was in a hissing contest with Apophis Serpent when he heard her sniffling. Sympathetic ruby eyes met brown ones, lined with silver. Uraby let loose an almost coaxing growl. Two more roars answered it, seemingly from nowhere. The two extra gems around Fizdis's neck pulsed with amber light. Surprised, Fizdis touched the gems with her fingers. They felt warm with the heat and excitement of an upcoming battle.

Light spilled forth from the gems. Uraby pushed Fizdis back with his tail to make way. When the light cleared, the dragon-like King Rex and massive Megazowler were also standing guard over their master. Both of King Rex's heads roared, wings unfurled to shield Fizdis from view.

Fizdis stared up at her monsters with awe. She felt Uraby's tail push her again, this time to the center of the dinosaur defensive line. Uraby, along with his teammates, formed a triangle around her. Each dinosaur faced a different enemy monster. With a one-on-one barrier, the enemy couldn't get to Fizdis except through what was directly in front of them.

The Imperial guard growled. "Dinosaurs?" he spat. "Pah! You make me laugh. A weak little girl commanding such beasts? You couldn't even command a Bone Mouse and get it to obey."

"Don't listen to him, Fizdis!" Yugi hollered from beyond the barrier. "You _can_ do it! He's just trying to throw you off guard!"

Uraby nudged his tail beneath Fizdis's chin, urging her to get up. She stared at him for a moment, and somehow she found the strength to push herself up onto her feet. Her eyes locked with Uraby's and she found him smiling, not a sheepish grin or a satisfied smirk, but a reassuring smile meant to give her courage. Strangely, the fear that had choked in the back of her throat edged away, if only slightly, but it was enough. She returned the smile.

"Okay!" she declared. Her voice was now confident. "I'm ready to fight back!"

Yugi cheered. "Yeah! That's the way, Fizdis!"

The midnight air swirled with rainbow lights. Status windows for Uraby, King Rex, and Megazowler appeared from within the swirl. Uraby's window, lined with five stars, glowed with yellow light. "All right, Uraby! Let's fight!" Uraby roared and leapt forward, serrated teeth and dagger claws aiming for the enemy.

* * *

Notes: 

(One) Wow, what a monologue. I made him monologue, guys! I didn't mean to do that.

(Two) Yet another annoying example of my abbreviating monster names.

(Three) That's not the Seal of Orichalcos! You know when you're moving around on the field, and all the monsters have green circles around them? (I hate those – everyone's always bumping into each other.) Anyway, those are they. We can't have Yugi cutting in on Fizdis's battle. After all, we all want to see her fight, right:nudge nudge:

SC: Hoo-wee, what an adventure. I'm sorry, I went out of town for two weeks, then returned and wrote about ninety percent of this chapter in one day. I am beat. But hey, it's an update for you guys, so I made y'all happy at least… Sorry for the sucky cliffhanger, though. I just wanted to get it up faster.

Thanks again for reading; please leave a review! Reviews inspire me to finish the chapters faster… After Pikpik246's review, I wrote the chapter in about two days. That's fast for me. Au revoir!


	6. Fury of the Empire, Part III

**Fury of the Empire, Part III**

SC: Yay, another chapter peoples! This is really exciting me. I'm working as fast as I can to get this thing going… I have really cool ideas for several chapters, but they're so far away… like the "Crucial Battle" chapter, and then the ones with Scott and such… Oh man, you'll _love_ what I have planned for the encounter with Scott. I do, at least… heh heh.

By the way, in case no one caught it, the "unexpected turn" from the last chapter was the one-sided Fizdis/Yugi-ness. I just wanted to do something with Fizdis's character, since no one ever uses her… Poor Fizdis. Let's see how she handles fighting off this ambush, eh? Read on.

* * *

Recapitulation: Uraby's window, lined with five stars, glowed with yellow light. "All right, Uraby! Let's fight!" Uraby roared and leapt forward, serrated teeth and dagger claws aiming for the enemy. 

The attack was intended for Kryuel, the monster opposite Uraby. The tiger-striped dinosaur planted rows of fangs into the fiend's arm. Dark blood seeped from the wound and around Uraby's teeth. Kryuel let loose a pained roar and Uraby fell back into its place in front of Fizdis. Yugi watched the fiend's HP meter drop by two hundred and eighty points.

"Wow…" he commented with awe. "Uraby's pretty strong." Seiyaryu nodded. Yugi eyed the windows for Fizdis's monsters. All of them had formidable HP: Uraby, 1538; Megazowler, 1903; and King Rex with a whopping 2368. These monsters were well above a simple Bone Mouse, and their high HP hinted that they had high attack strength as well.

Fizdis didn't show the same admiration for Uraby's attack. It seemed the sight of blood at this range made her a little unsteady on her feet. She wobbled a bit, but kept her balance after a swallow.

_Come on,_ she snapped at herself. _Yugi's right behind you. Don't be afraid, don't be…_

"Kryuel!" yelled the Imperial guard. "Let's show these rebels we mean business! Attack…" he raised a finger and pointed, "… her King Rex!" Once again the lightsaber in Kryuel's claws flickered to life. The fiend swooped down on King Rex and slashed one of its necks. King Rex roared, smoke and the scent of charred flesh rising into the night.

The Imperial guard wasn't finished yet. "Now, Apophis! Attack King Rex with Guardian Blade!" With an angry hiss the giant snake slithered forward. Silver flashed in the moonlight as the blade struck King Rex's right arm. The attack left a scar but didn't pierce its thick hide.

Yugi unconsciously balled his hands into fists. _Because of the way they're positioned, Fizdis can only attack one monster with one of her own,_ he thought. _But the enemy can attack whomever they choose! It's not an even fight if they gang up on one monster… _Even if all three enemy monsters went after King Rex, though, it would still be awhile before they killed it: its HP had only just dropped below two thousand. This dinosaur would be around for a few more turns before being defeated.

The yellow highlight moved to King Rex's window. It had five stars to attack with, just like Uraby. Fizdis didn't even look at the window and called out, "King Rex! Attack his Apophis Serpent!" King Rex lowered both its heads and opened its mouths wide. Twin jets of vermilion fire shot from its mouths toward the giant serpent. Apophis Serpent raised its shield to block some of the damage, but the fire sprayed around it and scorched already black scales. When the attack ended both the shield and the arm that held it were charred. Yugi's jaw dropped as he watched Apophis's HP drop by close to three hundred points. No _wonder_ the enemy was so intent on killing King Rex – it was the strongest monster Fizdis had, only a few tens of points weaker than Seiyaryu itself.

Next up was Megazowler. It scuffed its foot into the dirt and uttered a loud snort, like a bull ready for the charge. The Zarigun standing opposite it recoiled slightly. Megazowler snorted again, lowering its proud horns into view. "Okay, Megazowler!" cried Fizdis. "Attack Zarigun! Dino Impact!" Megazowler charged forward. A ton of dinosaur muscle and horn crashed into the much smaller Zarigun, sending it skidding back several feet. The attack was just as strong as Uraby's had been: nearing the three hundred-point mark.

"Grrr… A lucky shot!" snapped the Imperial guard. "You won't get me with that one again! Attack, my Zarigun!" Crimson pincers clicked mercilessly. Zarigun leapt back at Megazowler and pounded at its head, using its arms as clubs. Megazowler didn't seem to feel the attack and shook it off as soon as the monster had backed away.

Fizdis grinned. _This isn't so hard!_ she thought to herself proudly. _Maybe I can show Yugi that I'm worth it as a resistance member._ "Attack, Uraby!"

"Counter it, Kryuel!"

The battle continued, one turn after another. Neither player did anything but attack. Yugi was amazed at the sight; they both seemed to know it would be their turn before the window showed it. The attacks raged:

"Guardian Blade!"

"Dino Flame!"

"Savage Shadow Slash!"

"Wild Bite!"

"How do they _do_ that?" wondered Yugi aloud. Seiyaryu made a shrugging motion with its wings.

"All right!" cheered Fizdis as Uraby's attack landed a critical. Kryuel's HP was one attack away from hitting zero. "Good job, Uraby!"

"Not so fast!" roared the Imperial guard. He turned to his Zarigun. "Zarigun, you know what to do!" Zarigun nodded and raised one of its claws. It tapped on the fiery gem hanging from its neck. Moments later, filaments of blue were radiating from it. The blue light wafted lazily through the air until it reached Kryuel. It formed a glowing circle around the weakened monster, identical to the green one surrounding Yugi and Seiyaryu. Light shot upward from the outline in gleaming waves. Slowly Kryuel's HP rose by several hundred points.

"No!" Fizdis cried. "We were so close, too…" Uraby growled fiercely. It wouldn't be too hard for him to weaken the enemy again.

"So, the Empire has items, too," said Yugi. That made things a bit more difficult. If the enemy could heal after an attack, it would be much harder to defeat them in battle. Yugi still wasn't too sure about this "Action Points" system of battle, either. What would happen if all the stars ran out, yet no one had completely wiped out the other? Would it be a draw? "I guess we'll find out," he said to himself. Already, the Imperial guard was running low on stars.

"Megazowler, attack!" called Fizdis. Once again Megazowler slammed into Zarigun. The smaller monster barely clung to life, with only a handful of HP and one action point left.

"Heal yourself, Zarigun!" A tap to its jewel, and blue light sparkled. Megazowler's last attack was completely erased as Zarigun's HP climbed back up. However, using a Blue Medicine had used up its last action point.

_Now the enemy can't heal itself,_ thought Yugi. _But if the Zarigun is left alive, they'd still have access to their medicine._ _Zarigun can't attack, and the enemy has only a few stars left, so…_

"Fizdis!" he cried. Yugi remembered his battle with Etos, and the different battle commands that had appeared. At the time, he hadn't understood what many of them meant, but just now he had thought of something that could help defeat the enemy. She turned from the battle to face him. "Instead of just attacking, have Uraby _wait_ on its next turn!"

"… 'Wait?'" she repeated, as though it was something she had never heard of. That's when Yugi noticed that there _wasn't_ a command menu beside Fizdis, as there had been for himself. He looked all around her, just to be sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, but there truly wasn't one.

Fizdis was still staring at him as if he were crazy. There was something fishy going on here. Could only she see it? Or maybe… A sinking realization flooded Yugi's heart. Fizdis was a part of this game's programming… controlled by the computer. She didn't need to have a menu. She would just… keep attacking, regardless of any strategy there could be. "She's just a program…" murmured Yugi to himself.

"Yugi, what do you mean 'wait?'" asked Fizdis again.

Yugi swallowed. Game program or not, he had to get her to listen. "Just… don't attack! Don't do anything!"

"What? Why?"

"Just trust me on this!" he snapped more harshly than was normal for him.

"Enough stalling!" yelled the Imperial guard. "If you won't do anything then I'll take my turn. Apophis, attack King Rex with Guardian Blade!" Apophis Serpent gave a triumphant screech as it landed another successful hit on King Rex. By now, the dragon-like dinosaur had taken a considerable amount of damage. Both its heads were panting, and one of them was bleeding from its mouth. Yet the attack had used up Apophis's last action point. Now, only Kryuel could attack.

Fizdis looked at her monster worriedly. "Don't worry!" she told it. "We won't let them get away with an attack like that! We can scorch them right back–"

"No!" Yugi cried again. "Keep waiting!"

She rounded on him. "But Yugi…" Her monsters were getting worn out from taking the enemy's attacks. She didn't like seeing them so hurt. "What are we even waiting for?" she demanded.

Yugi hesitated to answer. He decided on saying, "The right window of opportunity." (1)

"…Okay," Fizdis said reluctantly. "King Rex, hold your ground." She wasn't sure what Yugi's plan was. How could they defeat the enemy if they didn't even attack? Waiting instead of attacking conserved action points, but if the enemy defeated her before she could use them…

The Imperial guard laughed. "Ha! I actually thought you were going to be trouble, but if you're just going to stand there and take a beating, then so be it! Attack her lead dinosaur, Kryuel!" Kryuel flicked on its lightsaber with a flash. The burning blade slashed across Uraby's shoulder, leaving a char that crossed several of his stripes. Uraby staggered, almost falling onto King Rex for support.

"Uraby–!"

Yugi cut in, "Keep waiting!"

"That's it, my Kryuel! Hit it again!" The blade landed squarely on Uraby's head. Blood red light flashed and Uraby fell to his knees. The attack had been a critical. Uraby's agonized hiss drowned out the sizzling of his own skin.

Fizdis ran to her dinosaur's side. "Uraby! Are you okay?" A few tears lined her eyes. "Please get up! Please be okay…!"

With a groan and much effort, Uraby managed to push himself back up. He had survived, but another hit like that would result in his demise. Fizdis hugged his neck tightly, but let go when he hissed at her. She rubbed away some of her tears with the back of her hand. Uraby had pulled through, for her sake. A pang of emotion filled her heart. Fizdis wasn't going to let his suffering be in vain, no matter what Yugi said.

"Yugi!" Fizdis spun around, her ivory skirt billowing, and faced him with a determined glare. "I… I can't keep doing this! I can't keep watching my monsters get hurt! Can't you see that we have to fight back? I don't know what sort of idea you had, but it's obviously not working!"

To her surprise, Yugi chuckled. "But Fizdis," he said with a grin, "it already has."

"Uh…" She blinked several times. "What are you talking about?" The idea of the resistance leader going crazy crossed her mind again. "We haven't done hardly a thing to the enemy!"

"True," Yugi allowed, "but take a look at what the enemy has done to _itself_."

_What is he talking about?_ Fizdis let her eyes wander over to the enemy. They were still standing in their line, a bit worn around the edges but not suffering from any real injury. _What does he mean "done to itself?" They aren't attacking each other…_ "Wait a second…" she said slowly, realization dawning on her. "They aren't attacking… They aren't attacking at all!"

"They _can't_ attack," Yugi corrected her. "They've used up all their action points. By waiting and shouldering their blows, you've removed the limit of your monsters only hitting one target." A smirk lifted his lips. "Now, you gain the advantage of being able to gang up on one monster."

"No!" cried the Imperial guard, but he could do nothing otherwise.

Fizdis grinned. Now she could win! "Yugi, you're brilliant!"

Seiyaryu nudged his master's shoulder in agreement. "Nah," he replied. "Now, take 'em down!"

"Right!" She eyed all three enemy monsters. "I guess the one we should take out first is… that one!" She pointed to the Zarigun on the far right.

Yugi nodded. "Yes. That one carries the medicine for their whole team – and only has four hundred HP left. Easy enough to kill."

"Go, King Rex! Attack it with Dino Flame!" King Rex, invigorated by their sudden advantage, roared with pride as it released twin streams of flame at the Zarigun. Flames burned high into the night, and Zarigun screeched as it lost over three hundred HP.

"Finish it, Megazowler!" Megazowler's beak lined with a smirk. It thundered forward faster than before and dealt Zarigun its final blow. Zarigun was actually thrown into the air from the force of the attack, and before it could meet the ground it had been swallowed into its gem.

"We… we did it," said Fizdis numbly. She had just defeated a monster!

"Good job, Fizdis!" cheered Yugi. "Now, which is his next weakest monster?"

"Um… Apophis! So I should take that one out!" She glanced at Uraby. Though it was his turn, he still looked on the verge of collapsing. "But first… I'll have Uraby heal himself with some Blue Medicine!" Uraby gave a grateful sigh and touched his amber gem with his claws. Cerulean light danced around him and on his wounds, healing the worst of the damage. The char marks faded and blended in with his normal stripes.

Fizdis had two attacks left, one each from King Rex and Uraby. "Okay! You know what to do! Attack his Apophis Serpent!" Dagger teeth and crimson flames ravaged the enemy monster. Apophis Serpent's HP dwindled to zero; the monster vanished within a blaze of navy light. Every action point on both sides had been used, and the enemy had lost two monsters.

"What happens now?" asked Yugi to no one in particular. "Do we just… let the enemy go?"

"Far from it," muttered the Imperial guard. Suddenly a blinding light flashed from nowhere. It stunned Yugi's eyes and he couldn't see for a few moments. When his eyesight returned his eyes jumped back to the status windows. All of remaining monsters' action points had been refilled. Fizdis had five, five, and four. The Imperial guard had five.

Yugi mused over this fondly. "So it resets itself… It keeps going until a winner is decided." He was starting to appreciate the technology of this game. It seemed like the programmers had thought of everything when designing the battle systems.

Though he doubted they had anticipated live people being captured within the game.

"Grrr… You rebels! You'll pay for defying the Empire!" screamed the Imperial guard. Uraby rolled its eyes.

"Sure," said Fizdis sarcastically. "Your monster's going down! Uraby, attack!" Uraby leapt forward and caught Kryuel's blade in his mouth. The tiger-striped dinosaur pulled back and crunched the weapon in half in his jaws.

"No!" cried the Imperial guard.

"Megazowler, attack!" Megazowler rammed Kryuel so hard, Yugi swore he heard one of its arms snap in half.

"King Rex, attack!" The dragon-like dinosaur blasted the enemy with its best flame attack yet. Kryuel howled in pain. Heat waves shimmered around it, and the fiend seemed to dissolve among them. When the fires died, there was nothing left of the enemy monster.

The Imperial guard sank to his knees. "I don't believe it…" he mumbled. "I was defeated… by a pesky rebel… _girl!_"

"YAY!" Fizdis leapt onto Uraby's back and hugged him from behind. "We did it! We did it!" she cheered. King Rex lowered its heads to her level and gave her two celebratory licks to the face. She returned the affection with twin pats to the neck. Uraby was no doubt feeling strangled by now but he pretended not to notice. He was, for once, feeling happy.

The Imperial guard wasn't feeling the same.

"BLAST YOU REBELS!" he roared. "You may have beaten me, but not the Empire!" The Imperial guard jumped back onto his feet. He lifted one of the crates behind him and heaved it at Fizdis.

"AAAH!" she shrieked. Megazowler put itself between its master and the flying crate. The crate shattered harmlessly against the dinosaur's mighty horns.

Yugi ran over to her side; the barrier separating them had faded when the battle had ended. "Fizdis! Are you all right?"

She nodded feebly. "Y-Yes…" Her eyes suddenly widened. "Yugi! He's going for the tower!"

"What?" Yugi whirled around. The Imperial guard was halfway up the watchtower ladder, and climbing fast. Anger boiled in his chest. "Seiyaryu! Don't let him get away!" With a fierce roar Seiyaryu was up, but the Imperial guard was already at the top. He fiddled with something out of sight; Seiyaryu had just reached the top of the tower…

FLASH!

Red light flashed from the tower with the intensity of a bolt of lightning. Seiyaryu roared and fell back several yards in its flight path. The light lit the tower and bathed the surrounding walls with its blood-red glow. Crimson pierced the navy veils of night. The light of the tower could be seen for miles across the flat land.

"HA HA HA! Fools!" the Imperial guard called down to them. "This isn't just a watchtower: it's a signal tower! Within minutes, every base from here to Sebeckal's own castle will know of your presence! Imperial marshals will flock here! There's no way you can withstand such an assault!"

Fizdis gave a squeak and clung to Yugi's jacket. "Oh no…" she whispered.

Dread cascaded over Yugi's heart. If what this guard said was true, and every marshal came... Three rebels, one of them already weakened, against an army of the enemy… the resistance's chances of winning dropped to almost nil. Violet eyes narrowed. "Seiyaryu! Shining plasma!" Seiyaryu fired a mass of flames directly at the Imperial guard. It struck him full in the stomach, shoving him against the tower's edge. He lost his balance, flailed his arms, and fell backwards over the railing. Fortunately, there were several crates to break his fall on the way down.

CRASH! SMASH! "_Owww…_" He groaned and passed out on the spot. Seiyaryu swooped down to his master's side.

Fizdis was stunned into silence. "Y-Yugi, don't you think you… overdid it?" she stammered after a moment.

"No. Come on," he offered her his hand, "let's go get Shimon and fill him in." (2)

* * *

Yugi and Fizdis told Shimon the details of what had happened. However, the resistance was running out of time, and they still didn't have a plan for facing the enemy. Yugi had taken to pacing along the rows of crates. 

Fizdis watched him go back and forth anxiously. "Isn't there anything we can do?" she asked for the umpteenth time. Yugi didn't answer her, seemingly too caught up with his thoughts to hear her question.

Shimon took the liberty of answering her. "What we can do is not much. It won't be long before the enemy arrives and tries to retake the fort. General Sebeckal's unit is powerful. Even in a well-fortified position, against their numbers we would only go down fighting…"

Those last few words managed to reach Yugi's ears. _Fortified…_ He finally stopped pacing and stared at the endless rows of crates, then turned to look at the wall. His mind swirled with calculations. After a few moments a smirk crossed his face.

"Guys!" he said. Fizdis and Shimon looked up from their general states of worry. "I have an idea."

* * *

A few minutes of explaining later, the resistance set to work. 

"Ready?" asked Yugi. When he received a nod, he said, "Okay, heave!" The crate scraped along the dirt floor as he and Shimon pushed it towards the wall. They stopped pushing when they felt it hit the wall. "Okay, only a few more left now. Fizdis! How are those boxes coming?"

"Almost done, Yugi!" she called back. "Most of them are already empty." Her job was to open the crates and remove anything inside them, so they'd be easier to push.

"I think we're ready for the second level," said Shimon.

Yugi nodded. "Okay." He lifted the lime green gem from around his neck. "But I think we're going to need some more help. Celtic Guardian!" In a flash of light the elven warrior appeared. "Help me lift these boxes, will you?"

Soon many monsters could be seen lifting crates and stacking them against the wall. Shimon worked with his Zombie Warrior while Yugi continued working with Celtic Guardian. Kaiser Dragon could lift one all by himself, and didn't need a partner. Even Fizdis's dinosaurs were helping by pushing the crates she emptied closer to the others.

Fizdis opened another crate and peered inside. "Yugi!" she cried. "I found something!" Yugi and Celtic Guardian handed off the crate they had been holding to Kaiser Dragon and came over to her.

"What is it?"

"Look!" She pointed at the crate. Inside were six glimmering bottles of Blue Medicine, almost glowing in the moonlight.

Yugi's jaw dropped. "Wow… I guess the Empire forgot about these." He picked up one of the bottles and examined it. After a moment he said, "Take two of these for yourself. I'll give two of them to Shimon." Fizdis nodded just as Kaiser Dragon placed the last crate neatly on top of the stack.

"Lord Yugi! We've finished stacking the crates!" called Shimon.

"Good!" Yugi jogged back over to him. He stared up at the finished product. The entire thing was six crates wide, and three levels high. Extra crates had been placed on the bottom two levels, like a staircase. In all, they had used up almost all of the available crates in their "creation."

"Now to test it." Yugi clambered up the tiers of crates. When he reached the top he walked around a bit. "It seems solid enough." _But will it hold a dinosaur?_ "Okay, Fizdis! Send him up!"

"Right! Go on up there, King Rex." King Rex lumbered up to the wall of crates. Carefully it climbed up the same way Yugi had. The crates creaked and groaned beneath its weight, yet they agreed to hold him. King Rex reached the top and looked behind. None of the boxes had broken.

Yugi grinned. "All right!"

Suddenly Seiyaryu gave an urgent roar from its post atop the watchtower. It spied enemies on the horizon, quickly approaching the reddened tower. Yugi cupped his hands around his mouth and called down to Fizdis and Shimon, "They're coming! Everybody get ready!" Fizdis climbed to the top of the crates beside her monster. Kaiser Dragon and Seiyaryu landed shortly after.

"All set down here, Lord Yugi!" said Shimon.

"Right." Yugi raised a violet gem and summoned Magician of Faith to stand next to him. "Be ready for the signal," he told the row of standing monsters and Fizdis. They nodded and crouched low, so that they couldn't be seen behind the top of the outside wall. As an afterthought Yugi threw the bottle of Blue Medicine he had been holding over the wall. It shattered on the ground outside.

"Yugi, why…?" asked Fizdis.

"Just trust me," he said back, before ducking behind the wall.

* * *

Three Imperial soldiers approached the guard tower, along with three monsters: Midnight Fiend, Dark King of the Abyss, and a Tiger Axe. They walked toward the lit building with skeptical looks on their faces. 

"Are you sure the rebels are here?" asked one of them. "The place looks deserted."

"It could be a trap," another suggested. "I heard these rebels outsmarted Etos."

"Etos was a fool," the leader snapped. "A corpse could outsmart him. And I know the rebels are here; there's nowhere they could run to otherwise. They probably want to go out in a 'blaze of glory.'" The three crept closer.

_Crunch, crunch._

"What?" The lead soldier looked down. He had stepped on a mess of broken glass. The shards splintered under his boots.

"Broken glass?"

"Must've raided the supplies… All the more reason to teach them a lesson. Come on." They had taken only one step forward when a voice cried out into the night:

"NOW!"

Suddenly a row of monsters appeared along the top of the wall. The Imperial soldiers didn't have time to respond as a string of attacks were declared.

"Dino Flame!"

"Photon Stampede!"

"Shining Plasma and Rainbow Blast!"

Fire and light rained down on the enemy. But the resistance wasn't aiming for the Imperial soldiers…

They were aiming for their monsters.

"GRROOAAR!" Tiger Axe roared as Kaiser Dragon's fireball struck its shoulder. Midnight Fiend was knocked out of the air from the force of Magician of Faith's attack.

"It's an ambush!" The lead soldier raised the gems of his other two monsters. "Summon your monsters!" he yelled to the others. "Fight them off!" The other soldiers nodded and followed suit amidst the deluge of attacks.

Yugi watched from the wall as the enemy summoned their monsters. "They fell for it!" he called down to Shimon. "They're all yours!"

Beside Shimon were all of the close-range combat monsters: Celtic Guardian, Uraby, Megazowler, Zombie Warrior, and Beaver Warrior. Megazowler lowered its head and growled, waiting for Shimon's command. "All right, go!" The giant dinosaur charged straight for the wall. The posts fell like blades of grass to a lawnmower. Once the way was clear the rest of the monsters ran through the opening onto the battlefield.

The enemy monsters met the resistance monsters head-on, yet the long-range assault seemed to be doing a number on them. The general state of chaos that reigned over the battlefield seemed only to confuse the Imperial monsters as the resistance kept up its offense both above and on ground level. Even the Imperial soldiers looked shocked; this wasn't anything like the even face-offs they were used to having.

Back up on the wall, Yugi continued to command his monsters' attacks. He noticed that the enemy's fiend-type monsters seemed to feel extra agony from Magician of Faith's attacks. The holy light from her staff burned deeply into them, so that often they would cease what they were doing and clutch at their wounds. "Magician of Faith, target their fiend monsters!" he told her. "Your attack does more damage to them." She nodded and fired another deadly blow, striking the Three-Headed Geedo's middle head.

Steel and colored light flashed as Celtic Guardian felled another monster. Fierce gaze sweeping across the field, he came to lock eyes with Tiger Axe. A frown crossed his face and he gripped his sword tighter. He had longed to cross blades with another warrior since defeating Etos's Foreign Swordsman not long ago. He charged at his target, his warrior's blood churning. Sword held high, he moved to bring it down across his foe.

Brilliant flames got there first. Tiger Axe roared and vanished back into its jewel. Celtic Guardian skidded to a halt. He whirled around to face the tower, where he could have sworn he saw Seiyaryu wink. With a scowl he kicked at the dirt before chasing after another enemy. (3)

Soon lights danced like fireflies across the field as more and more of the enemy fell; however, the resistance wasn't without its own casualties. Beaver Warrior had long since fallen, and Uraby's reckless fighting had earned him a great deal of injury. The tiger-striped dinosaur fell with a blow from the Midnight Fiend, which was then defeated by Zombie Warrior. Eventually the enemy's last monster, a Larvae Moth that had been completely ignored during the main fight, crumpled under Megazowler's horns.

Yugi stared down at the enemy with intense violet eyes. The Imperial soldiers, now defenseless, paled under his gaze. They turned and scrambled past each other to get as far away as they could from the resistance and their monsters. "The Empire will get you for this!" one of them dared to yell over their shoulder before they disappeared behind the horizon.

With a sigh Yugi slumped to his knees. His guerrilla tactics had actually pulled them through! Several of the monsters below cheered for their victory. Fizdis jumped for joy and threw herself on Yugi in a hug.

"You did it! You did it!" her giddy voice chanted. "We won!"

"GACK! Fizdis, you're choking me!"

Once she had let out enough of her excitement, the pair climbed down the rows of crates. Shimon handed Fizdis Uraby's gem. Her expression dimmed and grew solemn. "Oh, Uraby…"

Yugi put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, he'll be okay." He smiled when he saw Celtic Guardian trudge through the hole in the wall. "Glad to see you're all right," he said with a thumbs-up sign. "You put up a great fight out there."

Celtic Guardian grumbled darkly. He glared at Seiyaryu, whom purred innocently. He rolled his eyes and re-sheathed his sword. Yugi couldn't help but laugh at his monster's antics. Still grinning, he turned back to his troops. "How much damage did we suffer from that battle, Shimon?"

"We lost only two monsters, a remarkably more fortunate outcome than I would have predicted," Shimon replied. Yugi nodded and glanced at Seiyaryu.

"Then I guess I'll be going to face Sebeckal alone," he said.

"What? Yugi, you can't be serious!" Fizdis cried. She ran up to him and gripped his shoulder. "We just finished fighting! You can't mean to go out immediately–"

"I _can_," he declared, "and I am. My monsters didn't take as much damage as yours did, since they were in the upper ranks. You two need to recuperate before you'll be ready to fight again."

"But can't you just wait?"

"No. I can't risk giving the enemy time to recover, too. Besides," he added, "they planned that they'd defeat us here. I need to strike while Sebeckal thinks he has the upper hand." Seiyaryu fluttered over to Yugi, reins clamped in its beak. Yugi started fastening them, letting his words hang heavily in the silent air.

"Yugi…" Fizdis murmured sadly.

"Lord Yugi," Shimon said carefully as Yugi clambered onto Seiyaryu's back, "is there anything you want us to take care of…?"

Magician of Faith hopped down from the rows of crates. She smiled warmly at Yugi before vanishing into her jewel. Celtic Guardian gave a flustered sigh before doing the same. Seiyaryu scooped up the gems in its beak and passed them to Yugi. He slipped them around his neck before answering Shimon's question. "Actually, yes. I have an errand I need you to run…"

* * *

Seiyaryu swooped through the night air at full speed. Not knowing exactly how far away Sebeckal's castle was, Yugi could only head in its direction and travel as fast as he could. He followed the trail of watchtowers that snaked to the north. Soon a lumbering shadow could be seen against the navy-gray horizon. 

"There it is. Full speed ahead, Seiyaryu." The wind raced alongside the pair as they zoomed closer to their target.

This castle didn't have an open roof like the previous one had, so Yugi was forced to land on the balcony of a room on the second floor. He left Seiyaryu's reins on this time. He figured they wouldn't make much difference… Sebeckal must know he was coming by now. Yugi glanced at Seiyaryu before pushing on the door to the balcony.

With a creak it opened away from him. He was actually stunned a bit by this – he hadn't expected it to be unlocked. Yugi tiptoed forward into the room, Seiyaryu right behind. A few embers danced in the bed of a long dead fire in the wide stone fireplace. Across from it was a king-sized bed, complete with drapes to shield it from view. "We're in someone's room…" Yugi whispered.

"Correction: you're in _my_ room." Something stirred within the drapes, and suddenly they were pushed aside. A man was sitting cross-legged on the bed, wearing a bemused expression. He wore a helmet cast of green steel with gold trimmings, yet the rest of his outfit was just a plain, bland robe – his bedclothes. "By landing here, you managed to avoid all the guards I have posted throughout my castle… A pity for me. Now I, the great Sebeckal, have to deal with you myself."

"_Sebeckal?_" Yugi couldn't believe it. By _sheer dumb luck_, he had managed to walk right into Sebeckal's _bedroom_. That was a feat more suited to someone like Joey.

"You've done well for a bunch of misfit rebels!" Sebeckal went on. "It's been a long time since an enemy got me this excited. But playtime is over!" He leapt off the bed and raised three amulets high. "It won't be long before you beg Sebeckal for mercy!" Light filled the room as he summoned his monsters: Mountain Warrior, Armored Lizard, and an Axe Raider.

"We'll see who's begging whom for mercy," countered Yugi. His other two monsters summoned themselves to the field. Yugi removed Seiyaryu's reins so they wouldn't be a hindrance in battle.

_I can't believe we're actually going to fight in this little room!_ he thought. The gap between his row of monsters and Sebeckal's wasn't much, maybe three feet at best. To make matters worse, all of Sebeckal's monsters were warriors. The tightness of the battle would only give them the advantage with their attacks. The air swirled in its familiar way and created status windows for the conflicting monsters. Yugi scanned the data on Sebeckal's monsters.

He almost choked on a laugh.

His monsters had barely any action points – four, four, and three. Their HP ratings were lower than average, too; Mountain Warrior didn't even have over a thousand! Even if their attacks were bolstered by the situation, they wouldn't be around long enough for it to make a difference. Sebeckal seemed occupied with staring at Yugi's monsters' windows.

"_Fifteen_ action points?" he said in disbelief. "That's, that's… insane!"

Yugi grinned. "Who knows, maybe _I'm_ insane," he said playfully. "We'll find out shortly. Celtic Guardian, attack his Mountain Warrior!" The elven warrior complied and slashed at the foe with his sword. At close range the attack was almost fifty points stronger. The Mountain Warrior grunted, its HP falling by close to half. Yugi cheered. "All right! Nice one!"

"Grr… Armored Lizard, slice his Magician!" With an angry screech the reptile leapt forward. It dug its claws into Magician of Faith's arm and clung there like a burr. She screamed in pain, blood visible where claws had pierced her flesh. Armored Lizard released her by ripping its claws out of her forcibly. It returned to its spot in line, hissing with confidence. Magician of Faith clutched at her wound.

"Are you okay?" Yugi asked her anxiously. Though no doubt feeling a great deal of pain from the attack, she managed a nod. She let go of her arm and gripped her staff in both hands. The status window above her signaled that it was her turn to attack. "All right. Attack his Mountain Warrior!" Rainbow lights circled the end of her staff and rushed forward at the Mountain Warrior. The attack hit it dead in the face and almost toppled it over.

"Finish it, Seiyaryu!" Heavenly flames collected in Seiyaryu's open beak. It shot the fireball at the weakened monster, which could do nothing to resist the attack. In a blaze of creamy flames, Mountain Warrior disappeared from the battlefield. It had been defeated before it could even have a chance to attack.

Sebeckal was furious. "What? I won't let you get away with a stunt like that! Axe Raider, teach that retched dragon a lesson!" Axe Raider yelled a battle cry, brandishing his gleaming axe high. He charged full-force at Seiyaryu and swiped his blade across its neck. Seiyaryu fell beneath the blade with a pained roar. The axe had carved a canyon of blood in its wake. Red light pulsed in Seiyaryu's status window as its HP dropped by over seven hundred points.

"No! Seiyaryu!" The rose-colored dragon growled feebly and got back on its feet. Blood dripped from its wound and splattered on the stone floor below. Yugi was impressed with his monster's endurance – it had recovered from a critical blow in almost no time at all. But endurance wouldn't win the battle alone… and Yugi wanted to make Sebeckal pay for hurting his trusted partner. "Get back at Axe Raider, Celtic Guardian! Faerie Blade Slash!" The attack was a solid one that certainly damaged Axe Raider; however, it couldn't compare to the enemy's critical hit.

"How pathetic," said Sebeckal with a chuckle. "For defeating one of my monsters, you aren't that much trouble after all. Go, Armored Lizard! Strike his beloved Magician again!" With confidence to match its master's, Armored Lizard raised its claws and prepared to strike. Magician of Faith lifted her staff and braced herself for another horrible meeting with those claws…

The meeting never occurred. Armored Lizard pounced, yet in its confidence it had misjudged the jump. It ended up falling short of Yugi's Magician and landing flat on its face. Magician of Faith giggled as the enemy monster pushed itself back up irritably. "You stupid lizard!" Sebeckal hollered, spit flying from his mouth. "How could you miss at this range? Get up and attack her again!"

"Uh-uh-uh!" said Yugi, wagging his finger innocently. "That counted as your attack, even if it missed. Going twice in a row just wouldn't be fair, would it?" Magician of Faith giggled harder as Sebeckal's face lit with a bright red color. She smiled at Axe Raider, who for some reason recoiled from her cheery face. "Magician of Faith, go on and attack," said Yugi nonchalantly. She nodded and launched another Rainbow Blast. The attack hit his right hand, making him drop his weapon with a clatter. Axe Raider growled and picked it up again.

Yugi did his best to feign concern. "Aw, poor little Axe Raider dropped his axe." A sly grin crossed his face. "Maybe we should show him what it's like to have a melted one. Attack, Seiyaryu!" Following Yugi's lead, Seiyaryu launched its attack at the Axe Raider's weapon. Flames consumed the steel and filled it with intense heat. Axe Raider let go of the axe and clutched at his hand, where the metal had scalded him. The fire died down and revealed a misshapen lump of steel bubbling on the floor. Both Sebeckal and Axe Raider were stunned with such a move.

The yellow highlight shifted back to Magician of Faith. Because she had so many more action points than anyone else, the computer had allowed her to attack again, to even out the turn count. Magician of Faith wore a bubbly grin as she faced Axe Raider. Yugi raised his hand and waved at the condemned monster. "Bye-bye," he said in a voice that was reminiscent of Pegasus. "Rainbow Blast!"

Light showered over the Axe Raider. He cried out in agony and fell to his knees. Particles of light were slowly drifting up from the gem around the warrior's neck. "No!" cried Sebeckal. "Don't die yet!" It was too late for him, however, and in a flash he vanished into his jewel. The stone fell to the ground with a clink beside the melted axe. Sebeckal stood frozen with disbelief for a moment.

"Y-You _rebel!_" he stammered.

Yugi grinned. (4) "Yes, that's me. What of it?"

"_You'll pay for this!_"

"Oh," he said with fake sadness, "that's a pity. Although," he perked up a bit, "lots of people have told me that recently, and I'm not out one cent of gold. Maybe I'll slide by on this for free as well." Sebeckal gave an extremely frustrated growl.

"Kill his dragon, Armored Lizard! Battle Arts Claw!" Armored Lizard slashed at Seiyaryu's wing, jarring loose several pink feathers. The attack did damage, but not enough to shed a tear over.

"My, my, that was your last attack, wasn't it?" asked Yugi. Sebeckal opened his mouth to yell at him, but found no words would come out. Indeed, he was out of action points, and Yugi still had eight to do as he pleased with. "That's your defeat, then. Celtic Guardian, attack!" The elven warrior raked his sword across Armored Lizard's chest. Its HP fell by close to four hundred points.

"Magician of Faith, attack!" Her attack struck its left leg for a critical amount of damage. Eight hundred more points disappeared.

"Seiyaryu, attack!" Another heavenly fireball flew toward the enemy. It hit Armored Lizard in the face, flipping it over into the stone floor. Blue light bubbled up from its jewel and swallowed its form whole.

"And that is the end to a perfect day," Yugi said brightly.

Sebeckal's left eye twitched several times. "He's crazy…" he said in a sing-songy voice. "That rebel is crazy…"

"Good to know I'll be remembered." Yugi turned to his monsters. Aside from Seiyaryu's critical they hadn't received much damage. He smiled at them. "Good job, you guys. That was over pretty quickly, huh?" Magician of Faith nodded happily, proud that she had got in the last attack on a monster. Celtic Guardian looked bored with the situation. He could've won that battle in his sleep. Seiyaryu looked valiant as ever, yet the bloody laceration on its neck still worried Yugi.

"I think you guys should get some rest," he told them. "You've earned the right to take a break." Celtic Guardian and Magician of Faith nodded and disappeared into their gems. Seiyaryu remained outside, looking at Yugi expectantly. "You too, Seiyaryu," Yugi said sternly. "You need to recover." Reluctantly Seiyaryu allowed pale pink light to waft upward from the amulet around its neck. Slowly its form faded within the light and returned into the gem. Yugi caught the gem in midair just as it was about to fall to the ground. He had just placed it around his neck with the others when a harsh roar split through the air.

"GUUAARGH! You'll pay for that!" Sebeckal crossed the room and stood face to face with Yugi. "I was going to let you live, but not now!" With one huge hand he seized Yugi's neck.

"_Gargh!_" Yugi raised both his hands and tried to pry himself free, but he didn't even hold a candle to Sebeckal's physical strength. The defeated general shoved Yugi against the wall. A sinister grin shone in the moonlight coming from the window. He moved his thumb and pressed it into Yugi's throat. "_Let… argh… me go_…!" Yugi managed to choke out.

"Oh no, I'm afraid I can't do that," Sebeckal said darkly. "I can't decline myself the fun of suffocating you to death." His grip on Yugi's throat tightened.

"_Uhn…_!" Yugi kept trying to pull Sebeckal's hand off of his neck. His breathing came in erratic gasps, some of which squeaked as they fought through the restricted air space to reach his lungs. The world was starting to spin around him. His brain screamed for air but less and less of it was getting in. If only he hadn't dismissed his monsters so quickly, maybe they could have helped him…

Sebeckal squeezed tighter still; Yugi's arms lost the will to fight back and fell limply at his sides. His half-lidded eyes dimmed to a flat, decaying purple. He was barely conscious now, fighting to hold on to the last bit of air that he had.

_Scritch, scratch._

A faint noise reached his ears through the worlds of fog. His vague attention was drawn to the ceiling behind Sebeckal's head. One of the stones twitched, a few pebbles falling from around its edges. The image flashed on and off between pitch black, and as Yugi watched the stone lifted itself away from the ceiling. Then the one next to it lifted, and another, and another.

"Die, rebel scum," Sebeckal hissed.

With one last breath, Yugi sacrificed the air to mumble, "_Behind you…_"

Sebeckal laughed darkly. "You seriously can't think that I'd fall for that, can you?"

Yugi didn't have the consciousness or the air to answer that question. Sebeckal laughed harder still. That is, until he felt a sudden gust of warm air against the nape of his neck. Sebeckal froze, turning his head ever so slightly to look behind him. He found he had to turn his head _up_ to look the being in the eyes. A Duel Monster stood behind him, its wild yellow eyes mixed with a thick black mane. Both claws and teeth were bared at him.

"Uh-oh…"

The monster grabbed Sebeckal's shoulders and yanked him back. Sebeckal let go of Yugi's throat and screamed as the monster's claws burrowed into his flesh. Yugi collapsed to the ground, chest heaving as he drew in huge breaths. For almost a full minute he did nothing but focus on returning the air to his body. His eyes were half-open and dull but did not truly register what was occurring. Dark shapes jostled in front of him, and he was vaguely aware of a growling noise in the distant background. Something warm splashed onto his face and dripped across his cheek. One of the shadows stopped moving, and the growling ceased. The larger shadow tossed the motionless one aside carelessly.

A new shadow jumped down from the hole in the ceiling. It patted the large shadow's side before noticing that Yugi was there on the floor. It hurried over and knelt beside him. A warm hand settled on his shoulder. "Yugi… Yugi! It's you!"

Though Yugi had recovered almost all of his air, his brain worked hard to recognize the person in front of him. Cropped brown hair, brown eyes, a blue gem hanging from his neck… Yugi forced himself to sit up. He rubbed his throat gingerly. "_Uhhhn…_ Ow…" His eyes opened fully and stared into those of the person in front of him. "… Oh! Tristan!" A smile brightened his pale face. "What are you doing here?"

"I _thought_ I was going to defeat Sebeckal, but I guess you beat me to that." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. The large shadow turned out to be Gazelle, the King of Mythical Beasts. Behind him lay an unidentifiable bloody mess, which was, presumably, the remains of Sebeckal. Yugi flinched and wiped away the liquid on his cheek, which turned out to be blood. "Otherwise, trapped in the game, just like you, I guess."

Tristan held out his hand. Yugi took it and the taller youth pulled him to his feet. "Joey and the others are here too," Tristan continued. "I was just with them a little while ago." He looked sternly at Yugi. "Kaiba is working for the Empire. After losing to him, we felt it was safer to split up." (5)

Yugi did a double take at this. "Kaiba?" he repeated.

"Yep. I'm not sure why he's here, but he is. Anyway, I came to the island to organize my own resistance army." Tristan slapped a hand on Yugi's shoulder. "I should have known that you'd be leading the resistance."

Yugi shrugged. "It's the role I was given. Where is everyone else?"

"I don't know," replied Tristan. "We all separated and went underground to gather followers for the resistance. My guess is that they're still on the mainland trying to gather support and form new units." He scratched Gazelle absently behind the ears. Gazelle made an odd purring sound like a kitten. "If we keep fighting against the Empire, we're sure to run into them again," he suggested.

"Good point. I don't think we have any other options anyway."

Tristan stopped scratching Gazelle and faced Yugi. "Since I'm already here, I'm yours to command, Mister Resistance Leader!" He snapped his heels together and saluted.

Yugi laughed. "At ease, soldier. It's good to have a familiar face on my team." He looked uneasily at the bloody mess on the floor. "But for now, I think we should get out of here before reinforcements arrive."

"Right," Tristan agreed. "Here, follow me. I know a way to the outside." He pointed to the hole in the ceiling. Gazelle lifted him up into the hole, where he grabbed the edges and hoisted himself inside. Gazelle then picked up Yugi (which he wasn't exactly prepared for) and held him up for Tristan to pull inside. Tristan grabbed Yugi's hands and managed to get him inside.

"Hey!" he said when Yugi moved clear of the hole, so Gazelle could get through.

"Hey what?" asked Yugi.

"No, not hey, _hay_." Tristan reached forward and plucked something from behind Yugi's ear. "You've got hay all in your hair."

* * *

After finally getting out of the castle, Yugi led Tristan back to the tower where he had left Fizdis and Shimon. They reached it just as the first rays of the sun touched the sky. 

"We're back!" he called as he entered through the gap in the wall. The melee that was fought there seemed to have taken place years ago.

Shimon looked up from where he sat atop a crate. "Ah, Lord Yugi. You made it. I'm glad to see you have returned unharmed." He spotted Tristan, standing just behind. "And it looks as though you've brought a friend."

"'Lord?'" Tristan repeated with a snicker. Yugi elbowed him in the ribs.

"Where is Fizdis?" he asked.

"She's sound asleep, up in the watchtower. She insisted on staying up there to watch for your return." Shimon stood from his crate and stretched his arms above his head. "I do say I'm ready to join her, though. Oh, and Lord Yugi," he added, a glint in his eye, "I took care of your 'errand.'"

Yugi crossed his arms bemusedly. "Oh? And how did it go?"

"I can assure you, that farmer is regretting turning us in to the Empire. Apparently, he never told his wife that he did so. She was absolutely furious with him. She'll give him more to worry about than any of us ever could."

"And the gold?"

"I left what we gave them originally for the wife, and confiscated what the Empire gave him as our bounty. Right now though, I bet he would trade it all for a very good rope."

"Why's that?" asked Tristan.

Shimon beamed. "I'm sure it would prove useful for escaping from the bottom of a well."

* * *

Notes: 

(One) – The first time I wrote that line, I accidentally put, "The opportune moment." Anyone recognize that? Heh heh. Hooray for pirates!

(Two) – Leads one to wonder what the heck Shimon was doing out there the whole time.

(Three) – Those of you who were hoping for a really cool Celtic Guardian fight scene, I'm sorry. I'm not very good at fight scenes (as is apparent), plus I thought Seiyaryu killing it first was just funnier.

(Four) – Toying with your enemies is fun.

(Five) – Has anyone else wondered how Joey and the Black Dragon Squad manage to do all that stuff in the time it takes Yugi to do two missions?

SC: … Holy cheesewheels. That is… a _long_ chapter. Not even kidding guys. It took me five days of straight work to get this thing done. It's the longest chapter I've ever written! It's over twenty pages! AHHH! (dies) I'm sorry. I won't make the chapter that long ever again (unless, of course, you _want_ me to…)

Now for review responses!

**Dragon Boy 178** – Thank you so much for reading the story! I'm honored that you have me on your Favorites/Alert lists. I am unworthy! I hope you enjoy this new chapter.

Please review! If you love it… if you hate it… if you're mad at me for making the chapter too long… I don't care! Reviews make the world go 'round! (grin)


	7. Strategy

SC: Hello again. Sorry this came so late. I actually got a lot of it done, then got stuck, and had no time to work through the sticky spot because of band camp. Yep, that's right, I'm a Band Geek, and I'm proud of it, mateys. I am a mighty brass player, too, so you can't make any wimpy woodwind jokes about me. (sticks out tongue, totally ruining any image of profession she had)

School has started, and all the blah-blah that comes with it, which means I'll be busy. I'll still write, but chapters will probably be less frequent. It all depends on how the cards are stacked.

Man, there's that card pun again.

* * *

**Strategy**

_With the southern farms freed, the resistance now controls the western half of Vaxi Island. But Kepulia, ruler of Tsughut, has re-established order in the island capital and plans to subdue the resistance. He has put his trusted marshal Granus in charge of a large force and dispatched them to the west. Granus's enormous army is moving steadily west along the Central Way, leading straight for Makhad._

Tristan's arrival spurred hope in the resistance. Another member meant more strength to face the Empire with. Yugi relayed everything that had happened so far on the island to Tristan. He did the same of his adventures on the mainland.

"Honestly, Kaiba thrashed us. His underlings were easy enough to defeat, but by then we were too weak to beat him. He trounced all of us… He beat Joey worst of all." Tristan shivered. "I just hope I don't see him again while we're here. Although, I feel a bit better knowing I'm with you, Yugi."

Yugi shook his head. "Don't be. If he beat Joey as you say he did, then Kaiba must have grown a lot stronger while in this game. Usually Joey can hold his own until the very end." He caught Seiyaryu's solemn gaze. "I might not stand as good a chance as you think."

"Don't say that!" Tristan cried.

"At least I know I'll stand a better chance than you will, Tristan," Yugi added with a smirk, "considering that you only have two monsters." True, Tristan had only two monsters to do battle with. Of course, Gazelle, and his second monster turned out to be a powerful one, Machine King.

Tristan crossed his arms and looked away. "Yeah? Well, it's not like it's my fault. The ship I took to get to the island turned out to be loaded with bandits. At night they stole one of my monster gems without me noticing. I watched the boat sail away before I realized it was missing." He sighed heavily.

"Yugi!" Fizdis's bright voice sailed down to them from the watchtower above. The resistance had decided to stay in the Imperial fort until they could depart the next day. "Shimon's back!"

"Good." Yugi looked to the opening in the wall just as Shimon came through. The evening sun was visible beyond him. "So?" he asked. "What have you found out from your intelligence? Is the Empire planning a counterattack?"

Shimon's eyes were grave. "Not only that, Lord Yugi. The Empire has finally dispatched a large unit to hunt us down. They've decided to crush us before we stir up too much trouble and reach the mainland."

"How large is this unit?"

"Seven marshals," he said grimly.

Yugi flinched. "The resistance will suffer severe casualties if we try to fight them head-on," he said. "Do you have any suggestions, Shimon?"

"Hmm…" Shimon looked down at the ground. "The Imperial forces don't consider us a serious threat yet and are not being as cautious as they should." Fizdis climbed down from the watchtower and approached the three other resistance members. Shimon looked back up. "Therein lies the opportunity."

"What do you mean?" asked Tristan.

"There is a fort along the Central Way," Shimon explained, "and the enemy plans to move its main force there on its way to Tsughut. The fort is completely empty right now. We might be able to spring a trap on them there."

"Interesting…" Once again the setting sun's glow enraptured Yugi's eyes. He flashed a smirk. "We can attack them with fire."

Shimon caught his drift. "Exactly. I'll get started on the preparations immediately." He bowed himself out of Yugi's presence and hurried off to his work.

A wave of fatigue washed over Yugi's shoulders, and he found himself unable to restrain a yawn. "I'm beat," he said. "Fizdis, I think I'm going to steal your spot up in the watchtower…"

"Oh, you don't want to do that, Yugi," she said with a frown. "You'll wake up stiff as a board. You should find someplace here on the ground." She giggled slightly. "Although I don't know how you could be so tired. I'm wide awake!"

"That's because you slept all day," Yugi muttered. "Me, I've been awake since yesterday."

"Actually, me too," said Tristan. "Gazelle and I spent all night getting to Sebeckal's castle, only to find that Yugi had done the job already."

"Speaking of Gazelle…" Yugi wandered over to the bag containing the resistance's meager supplies. Most of it was filled with the gold taken from the farmer, but there was one thing in particular Yugi was looking for. On top of everything rested two glimmering gems, one a bright white, and the other a dark, almost gray green. He picked up the green gem and tossed it to Tristan, whom caught in with both hands. "Take that," he said. "It'll take the place of your lost monster."

Tristan stared at it, dumbfounded. "You mean you actually carry around spare monsters?"

"No. I just happened to pick that one up somewhere." Yugi smiled. "And don't worry; I know from experience that it's a tough one." Tristan gave him an incredulous look as he turned away. "Now, I'm for going to bed."

* * *

Everyone used that night to readjust to being diurnal. Morning dawned the next day, a bright sun commanding the eastern sky. As tired as he had been the night before, Yugi found himself up with the sunrise. He sat up from his spot on the ground (thankful there wasn't any hay) and blinked. It took a few moments for him to remember what today's plan of action had been. He groaned when he remembered the traveling they had in store to get to the Central Way. Traveling was _so_ boring, and they always did it in one go, with no stops.

Yugi turned around to look at Seiyaryu. His dragon blinked its beady eyes back at him. "You know, I think you must sleep with one eye open, Seiyaryu," Yugi said quietly, reaching a hand forward to stroke the dragon's neck. "You always seem to get up at the same time I do." Seiyaryu purred happily. The roborant sound illuminated the very air around them with energy. Yugi felt suddenly wide awake, and ready to depart.

He stood up and stretched his arms over his head. His eyes spotted the top of Shimon's cylindrical hat, moving around on the other side of the fort. Yugi walked over to him, and found him pouring over his parchment maps.

"You're up early, Shimon," Yugi said. Shimon didn't seem surprised by Yugi's presence.

"As are you, Lord Yugi." He waved at the map in front of him. "I was just going over everything one last time, to assure that all is well." Yugi moved beside him and peered down at the paper. It was a map of the Central Way, the main road for travel across the island. The road linked two major castles in the eastern and western provinces. A single fort stood watch over the road's halfway point.

"This fort here is the key to our current plan," Shimon explained, resting his finger on the drawing. "We've rigged the fire to go off at nine o'clock tonight. Any teams in the fort when the fire starts will suffer heavy damage."

"Wait – we already rigged it? When?" asked Yugi. "I thought that was our task for today."

Shimon nodded. "It was, but it would have put us too close to the enemy for comfort. We've received news that the enemy is headed straight along the Central Way towards this fort. Setting the trap that late could have risked revealing everything to the enemy."

"That doesn't answer my question. When was it rigged?"

"I set out last night while you were asleep. I took care of everything," Shimon replied.

Yugi gaped at him. "Shimon! You didn't have to do that! In fact, you shouldn't have – what if the enemy had already been there? You would have been trapped without backup!"

"Forgive my presumptuous manner, Lord Yugi. I simply wanted to assure the safety of our other members, and not worry you." Yugi let out a sigh.

"That's fine. But next time, try asking me first."

"As you wish, Lord Yugi." Shimon looked over to the slowly rising sun. "But now, I think it's time we depart. We need to reach our destination before the enemy makes too much headway."

"Right. You take care of the supplies; I'll wake up the others." Yugi turned and walked over to the watchtower. He found Fizdis asleep beneath it, curled up with a contented look on her face. He saw that she was still holding Uraby's gem tightly in her hand. Yugi knelt beside her and gently shook her shoulder. "Fizdis," he said quietly. "Fizdis, wake up."

Chocolate eyes eased open. Blearily they focused on the figure above them. "Yugi…?" She blinked a few times and pushed herself upright, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Is it morning already?"

Yugi chuckled. "Yes. We're getting ready to leave. And," he added, "I'll bet that Uraby has recovered from last night by now." Fizdis smiled happily and looked down at the gem in her hand excitedly. A flash of amber light shone over Yugi's shoulder as he turned to wake Tristan. He laughed again, hearing Uraby's annoyed growl as Fizdis hugged him around the neck.

Tristan was sprawled out on the ground, snoring. Yugi rolled his eyes. He didn't bother to kneel: instead, he nudged his friend's shoulder with his foot. "Hey, Tristan! Get up!"

The taller youth rolled over. "Five more years," he mumbled. He let out another loud snore.

"Honestly, you're worse than Joey sometimes," Yugi muttered under his breath. An idea jumped into his mind. "Hey Tristan, you might want to get up," he began craftily. "Serenity's coming, and she said she really wanted to see you today."

"WHAT?" At this, Tristan sat up so fast he could have given himself whiplash. He looked around wildly. "Where? Is she here yet? Why didn't you tell me!" He looked to Yugi and found him laughing. "What? What's so funny?"

"Sorry," Yugi said, stifling more laughter. "I can't believe you actually woke up to that."

"Yugi, what do you…? You mean Serenity's not coming?" Tristan looked on the verge of tears, making it harder for Yugi to quell his laughs. "How could you trick me like that?"

"Easy. But now's not the time… We need to get moving."

"What time is it?"

Yugi answered brightly, "Just after sunrise." Tristan groaned.

"Dammit, when I was with Joey we didn't get up until the middle of the day," he grumbled.

"That's because you were bandits," Yugi reminded him. (1) "You worked better with the cover of night. Now come on; get your lead monster ready so we can pull out." Seiyaryu flapped over and offered its reins to Yugi. He patted his dragon's head and slipped them on.

Tristan sighed and summoned Gazelle. The lion-like monster was alert, looking not in the least bit tired. "I think I liked it better when we were with Joey," he told his monster quietly. "At least he wouldn't try any Serenity tricks like that one."

* * *

The resistance left the fort at not much later after than. The cool air caressed Yugi's face as he flew on Seiyaryu's back. They moved quickly, and reached their destination before the sun had risen very far in the sky. Their target was the castle at the western end of the Central Way. Even though the Empire passed by it constantly, the castle had avoided occupation. It was the perfect, safe place for the resistance to hide in for the day. Yugi and Seiyaryu found a way in through the roof and came down to open the front gates.

"That's weird," commented Tristan. "If this castle isn't occupied, then why hasn't the Empire taken control of it yet?"

"They simply haven't gotten around to it," explained Shimon. "No one has put up a fight here, so why send troops in when they could be better used elsewhere?"

"Ah. That's a good point."

"Wow!" Fizdis said in awe as she walked through the entrance. "It's huge!" The wide stone entryway was large enough to hold the entire fort they had been in last night, with room to spare. Even Uraby seemed amazed at the castle's grandeur. An expression of intrigue replaced his usual irritable manner.

"Don't get used to it," said Yugi sternly. "We'll be moving along soon enough." Fizdis's smile faded. She patted Uraby's side and turned to face Shimon.

"So… do we just wait here?"

"Yes and no," Yugi cut in before Shimon could respond. "You two will." He motioned to Fizdis and Shimon. "Tristan and I have an errand to run."

"We do?" Tristan inquired, a confused expression bedecking his face.

"Yes, we do. And until we get back, your job is to hold up here. You two can take care of that. Keep watch from the woods near the fort if you have to. Tristan and I will meet you there."

"What are we _doing?_" asked Tristan again.

Yugi led Seiyaryu back towards the open door and climbed on its back. "I'll show you when we get there," he said with a grin. Seiyaryu flapped into the air and flew outside.

Tristan stared after him for a moment before clambering onto his monster. "What's he up to?" he wondered aloud as Gazelle sprinted after Seiyaryu.

* * *

Yugi led Tristan north, towards steely mountains that loomed over the lower lands.

"Now will you tell me what we're doing out here?" Tristan cried over the roar of the wind. Harsh gusts swept down the side of the slope they were climbing. Gazelle was forced to slow down a bit as the ground beneath them turned increasingly rockier.

Seiyaryu eased its pace as well, flying beside Gazelle so Yugi could speak. "We're here to train," he answered. He hunched over on Seiyaryu's back as another breath of wind threatened to knock him off.

"Train?" Tristan repeated. "Why?"

"You want to get used to your new monster, don't you? Better to do so through training than in a fight against the enemy, where things could go wrong."

"But did we have to come up _here_ to do it?" Not only was the wind harsh, but the temperature was starting to drop as well. The pair reached an area of flat rock, carved from the mountain face. Yugi directed Seiyaryu to land.

"Here is the best place. I can give you three reasons why. One: In case you didn't notice on the way up here, the land surrounding the road is flat. We could be seen by anyone, friend or foe, that traveled down that road." Gazelle crested the lip of level rock. Tristan slid off his monster's back.

"Fair enough," Tristan said.

"Two: I thought the extremeness of the conditions here could make up for the tension that would come from being in an actual battle. And three: your new monster is a Dragon-Type. It's well-suited to this type of terrain, and would benefit by being trained here." Tristan did a double take at this.

"You gave me a _dragon?_" The words slid off his tongue with awed disbelief.

"Of course. The resistance could use more brute force under its belt," Yugi replied.

"Which one!"

The resistance leader smirked. "Why don't you see for yourself?" He gripped the two gems of his monsters that hung around his neck. In twin flashes of lime and purple, Celtic Guardian and Magician of Faith appeared. "I'll face you in a match here, to test your monsters' strength."

A tremor ran down Tristan's spine. Yugi wanted to _battle_ with _him_? He'd be creamed in seconds! "Y-Yugi, are you sure?" he stammered. "Is it a good idea to beat each other up before we face the Empire?"

"Don't worry; I already thought of that. I brought enough Blue Medicines to bring ourselves back up to full strength afterward." Tristan cursed to himself. Fighting Yugi would just bring him humiliation. Oh, and don't forget pain for his monsters. Tristan was sure that Yugi's monsters would be tough opponents.

He felt a nudge on his shoulder. Tristan turned and saw Gazelle behind him, eyes shining with encouragement. "Well… all right, fine. You've got yourself a match, Yugi!" Tristan declared.

Yugi smirked. This would work well for both of them: each would gain experience for their monsters, and more practice at face-offs. But Yugi could gain something else from participating in this fight – observing and learning Tristan's battling style. It would be a good asset to know how well he fought, so Yugi could plan attacks against the Empire more aptly.

Tristan raised the bright cerulean gem of his second monster, Machine King. Yugi was familiar with this monster, as it was a monster he had seen in two duels now, one of which he had merely watched. It was obviously a machine type, not the strongest of its kind, though with its metallic build it surely possessed a formidable defense. The Machine King stood stiffly erect, steel fingers curled into fists at its sides. It didn't seem to be the type of monster bothered much with emotions like anxiety or nervousness.

The dark green gem lay ominously in Tristan's outstretched palm. He glanced at it nervously. He wasn't sure if he could handle a dragon on his own. Heck, Tristan didn't even consider himself a duelist – he only even knew how to play because he had watched Joey and Yugi so many times. On any normal occasion, he would have left the higher level monster to someone whom he thought could handle it. But Yugi had trusted him with this creature, so… He held the jewel aloft by its chain.

Light matching the gem's color spilled down from it in a wave. Color splashed on the rock below as if the light had turned to water, yet left no trace of itself on the ground. More and more light poured out, and slowly, it began to take shape. First all Tristan could identify was the thick tail, but soon he could see claws, and a massive body. Wings unfurled from its shoulders while its head raised up on its long neck. In a flash the light turned solid, into scales, muscles, and bones. Tristan gazed at the dragon before him, jaw slightly ajar. "Whoa…"

"This is a Blackland Fire Dragon," Yugi said, waving at the forest-scaled beast. "A fine dragon, and a formidable fighter." Blackland Fire Dragon gave a prideful growl. Honor for being chosen as a resistance monster filled its fiery veins. "I'd like to see him battle under a skilled marshal. The one I won him from left much to be desired."

_Yugi thinks I've got skills? Holy crap._ Tristan swallowed. "Okay, let's do this," he said. His three monsters moved to stand in front of him, Gazelle taking the middle. Yugi's monsters did the same on his side.

"Now remember, fight your hardest, even though we're friends."

"Right." A gust of chilled wind surged past the pair, stirring the air above them to form the familiar status windows. Each studied the data for the other's monsters. Tristan's monsters were of average strength, each with HP resting comfortably around fifteen hundred. Yugi noted the number of action points his monsters had – three for each monster. At the same time, Tristan stared in awe at Yugi's monsters. If the sheer number of action points they possessed wasn't enough to daunt him, the look of experience in their eyes did the trick. Yellow light signaled that Machine King had received the privilege of first strike.

Tristan scanned Yugi's monsters. Based on their Attack ratings, Seiyaryu was easily the strongest. But the ratings didn't take into account any of the monster's own effects, such as an adeptness to certain types of terrain. Tristan wasn't sure of what tricks Yugi's monsters possessed. For now, he decided it was best to stay on the defensive, at least until he could get a better understanding of Yugi's strength. "Machine King, defend!"

"Defend?" Yugi repeated to himself, with slight interest. Machine King raised his arms before his head, so that the gleaming red armor on its forearms acted as a barrier between it and the enemy. The word 'GUARD' flashed briefly in the status window above the monster. (2)

A vague curiosity overtook Yugi. He had wondered about the defensive command for awhile now, and if it held any advantages on the battlefield. Yet he had been hesitant to try it, fearing that using it so blindly in an important match may swing things to the opponent's favor. Here, though, was a safer place to try it out… In fact, Tristan had done the favor for him. Now, all he needed to know was what happened when the defending monster was attacked. Before him, Magician of Faith stood ready to do the testing.

"Magician of Faith, attack his Machine King!" Almost before the resounding words left his mouth, she acted on them. A blaze of varicolored light shot forward and plowed into Machine King's arms. The much larger monster took a step back from the force of the blow. He held his defense strong against the force of the light, and managed to prevent its advancement. Eventually the attack died down. Yugi watched Machine King's HP. To defend had been a good effort: his HP fell by exactly fourteen points, a huge difference from the usual amount of damage Magician of Faith usually caused.

"Well, well…" murmured Yugi in amusement. Defending was not at all a bad strategy.

Machine King lowered his arms, exposing his face again. At this, Yugi quirked an eyebrow; did the defense only last one turn? Letting his curiosity reign again, he cried, "Celtic Guardian, follow her lead!" A look of smug eagerness commanded the elven warrior's countenance. Enthralled by the thrill of battle, he leapt forward, the chilled steel of his blade gleaming. He brought the sword across his mechanical adversary with such force sparks flew from where the metals collided. Yugi had worried that the attack would be weaker, because of the Machine King's metal body, but his worries left him when he saw the monster's HP fall at the rate expected.

Tristan watched his monster take the hit and grit his teeth. _So, Yugi's an offensive player_, he thought, _not like I didn't already know that._ He knew just defending wouldn't be able to hold Yugi off for long, not with the strength his monsters had. If he didn't attack back, he'd be defeated before he ran out of Action Points. "Okay Gazelle, let's show them not to mess with our buddies anymore. Attack his dragon!"

Gazelle pounced forward. A pause, then with lightning fast motions in its arms the beast slashed at Seiyaryu. Hardened claws tore through rosy scales, drawing crisscrossed trails of blood. The dragon's HP dropped by over two hundred points. "Yeah! That's the way!" Tristan cheered.

Yugi smiled. "That was a good hit, Tristan." The turn shifted to Seiyaryu. _Though now, I'll have to repay you._ Machine King had already taken some damage, and so Yugi decided to concentrate his fire on it. "Go, Seiyaryu! Attack Machine King!" Seiyaryu flapped up into the air, focused its energy on forming a fireball, and then released its mass of flames. Dazzling flames of pearl and orange struck Machine King hard in the stomach, knocking the towering monster back a few paces. He shook off the attack and moved back into line with his fellows.

Blackland Fire Dragon uttered a determined roar. Now that it was his turn to attack, he wanted to prove to both Yugi and his new master that he was worthy of his post as a resistance member. He looked to Tristan eagerly. Tristan looked back at him, hesitated for a moment, then grinned. "Okay, let's see what you can do. Attack Seiyaryu!"

Blackland Fire Dragon roared in compliance. He flapped his wings down hard and reared up on his hind legs. His neck swung back as far as it would go. With another roar he brought his neck around and released an intense rush of flames. Seiyaryu was familiar with the attack and shielded the main part of its body with its wing. It still took full damage, but at least the wound was in a place that wasn't as vital.

Tristan watched the HP bar, and was amazed to see how much damage he had done. Blackland Fire Dragon's attack had done more damage than Gazelle's had! From what Yugi had told him, Tristan knew that Gazelle had more experience than his new dragon did, and still, he had been stronger! Tristan was suddenly thankful that Yugi had given him such a powerful monster. Now the Empire would have something to watch out for! (3)

Yugi smiled. He had been right, in that Blackland Fire Dragon would perform well. Now the turn moved back to Magician of Faith. "Okay, Tristan, let's keep going."

The pair kept fighting. Eventually Tristan had to switch targets to Yugi's other monsters, for fear of accidentally kayoing Seiyaryu. Yugi did the same against Tristan's monsters, only he had a harder time with it. His monsters were a lot stronger, and could wipe out Tristan's much faster. He even had some of his monsters guard, to use up Action Points without hurting Tristan. In the end, both teams had just about the same amount of HP, but Yugi had held back considerably. The windows faded and both boys sighed.

"That was fun," commented Tristan. "Although, you should have creamed me."

"Should have, but didn't," Yugi said with a grin. He tossed Tristan one of the bottles of Blue Medicine that he had brought with him. "Here, heal your monsters. We need to start getting back." Their side of the mountain had turned dark, as the sun was hidden from them on the other side.

Once Tristan and Yugi had brought their monsters back up to full strength they left the mountain, heading back to Shimon and Fizdis.

* * *

Yugi and Tristan made it back quickly, and found Shimon and Fizdis waiting beyond a line of trees as promised. They had to move carefully around the fort, for fear of being seen. Uraby was present as well and standing beside Fizdis, wary eyes positioned on the fort.

"So how've things been?" asked Yugi.

Fizdis shook her head. "Boring. At one point we were worried that they might move on to the castle. The men looked like they wanted to do that, but Granus held them back. They've been in there all day." The two of them peered down at the fort. The Imperial monsters were spread around its center with their marshals presumably resting somewhere covered. Enemy movement was minimal.

Tristan sidled up to Yugi. "Hey Yugi, how are we supposed to know when the fire'll go off?"

"You have a watch, don't you?"

"Yeah, but it's way off." He glanced at his wrist with a frown. "It says it's one o'clock in the afternoon right now. It hasn't moved since we got into this mess, I think."

"Time must flow at a different speed here," Yugi observed, "if it hasn't moved in four days. However, I presume that Shimon has a way of knowing when it will happen. Until then, let's not worry about anything except the battle at hand."

* * *

Night came. By now many of the enemy monsters had curled up on the ground and fallen asleep. The resistance members hidden on the forested hill called their own monsters forth, in anticipation of the coming fight. Anxiety and eagerness lingered on all of their features. Even Shimon, usually reserved in his emotions, seemed a bit tense. "It's almost time…" he murmured at one point.

The Imperial marshals were starting to follow their monsters' leads. Many of them turned in for the night, including Granus himself, leaving two men on guard duty. None of them knew of the strange mechanism that had been planted among their ranks. In an unused room of the fort, hidden from view, a small device rested on the ground next to a pile of dried leaves and sticks. It consisted of a wooden frame with metal components interwoven inside of it. At its center was an hourglass. Grains of sand slipped from the top half in a steady stream, yet instead of filling a second glass container the sand fell onto a scale. As more sand ever so slowly moved to the scale, it began to tip. As the approaching time grew near, the scale held still for a brief moment, almost quivering. Then the last of the grains cascaded upon it and it tipped. The counterbalance to the scale was a stick with a metal instrument on the end. When the scale tipped the stick tilted up and the metal at the end scraped against another metal device. A shower of sparks fell from the meeting and landed on the leaves surrounding it. At first, the leaves just smoldered, then the smolders grew to embers, and then into tiny flames. Soon the bits of fire grew large enough to lick at the pile of wood beneath the leaves, lapping at the sticks and twigs like lollipops. (4)

The fire spread to the surrounding walls. It wasn't long before one of the guards, patrolling his way down the hallway, noticed the charcoal scent and saw smoke curling up from under the closed door. He paled and sounded the alert: "Fire! The fort is on fire!"

Those who were sleeping were instantly roused awake, either by the yell or by the commotion that followed shortly afterward. The fire had grown considerably larger in such a short amount of time, as the fortress was composed of wood. Everywhere marshals and monsters rushed about, frantically trying to stop the spread of the fire. The monsters, which were working closest to the flames, bore burn marks and other injuries upon them. Their movement, back-lit with the glow of flames, was visible to the encamped resistance.

Almost asleep from waiting, the four resistance members jumped to their feet. "The teams in the fort are taking heavy damage!" cried Shimon.

Seiyaryu swooped down from its perch in a nearby tree and landed in front of Yugi. Effortlessly he climbed on its back. "Then now is the time to strike!" With a roar Seiyaryu flapped up and flew down the face of the hill toward the fort. The others followed suit moments after.

"Hurry! Move the supplies to the center! Keep them from burning!" an Imperial soldier hollered over the choking blanket of smoke in the air. The few others not devoted to holding back the fire moved to obey his command.

Granus himself was trying to keep everything together. "No! Don't use wind!" he yelled at a flying monster that had been flapping at the flames. "Use dirt and sand to smother it! – What happened to our water monster?" he demanded of one of the soldiers beside him.

"Sir! It was moved into the unit that the rebels destroyed!"

"The rebels!" Anger rose in heated wisps on Granus's face. "They are behind this! Those dogs continue to howl and bite at our heels, and their daring grows with each glance of attention we give them!" In his head he knew that the rebels would grow stronger too, not just more daring. If they were not stopped now, they could become a threat to the whole Empire. He turned and declared to all men and monsters present: "Keep your guard up! This is all a diversion! The rebels must be planning to attack us!"

"'Planning,' you say?" a confident voice called from above. Granus's eyes darted upward in time to see a mass of flames come down at him. He jumped out of the way, but the supplies that had been moved safely away from the burning walls were now lit ablaze. An orange-red dragon drifted in the purple-black sky.

"I'd say we've planned this pretty well." A figure leaned forward on the dragon's back, with eyes the color of blood. "For a bunch of howling dogs, that is."

All the blood in Granus's face left suddenly, then worked its way back up in churning spite. The taunting nature of the resistance leader, though somewhat known after his several attacks, had gotten to him. "You!" he seethed. "How dare you show your face here! I'll set your body to flames once I'm through with you!"

Sonorous laughter, dark and tainted with flames, rolled down to him. "Really? And what shall you use to get at my body? Your monsters, perhaps?" Granus heard a roar and turned to look. His eyes caught flashes of fire and blood. Limber, powerful beasts, distorted by the heat, ripped into the form of an Imperial monster. It returned to its gem not seconds later.

"Or maybe," the resistance leader spoke again, his voice this time the color of midnight, "you'd rather have some of your soldiers do the job?" That's when Granus realized he could hear screams. Cries of anguish from his men: glistening burns on their arms finally took effect; great gashes across their backs, as administered by the ghastly beasts. Some of them fell to the ground under the weight of their wounds and didn't get back up. Soon Granus found that he was very much alone in the fire-ravaged fort, his monsters and men defeated.

He found he could do nothing but look back up at the glowing dragon, and the blood-eyed figure atop it. His mouth opened but no words came out, as the resistance leader got there first.

"I hope you enjoy Hell, Granus. Tonight has only been a preview."

The last thing he felt was the fire.

* * *

The mists of dawn were filled with a slate-blue haze. Fine threads of smoke still curled upward from the charcoal wreckage of what had once been a fort. The resistance had already picked through it, looking for anything of value that had survived. All they found were a few lone monster gems kept safe beneath layers of dirt. The others had been destroyed with everything else.

In the aftermath, everyone seemed shaken. Fizdis hadn't spoken a single word since the fire had first gone off. Shimon paced around the ruins without the smooth gait and posture he usually held. Even Tristan seemed distant with everything occurring around him. Only Yugi appeared to be unaffected by last night's events. Everything was silent; no crickets chirped, and no birds piped their renewing melodies.

It was after a few moments that Fizdis broke down and fell to her knees. "Wh-Why," she stammered in a feeble voice, "why did we have to do that?" Thin tears fell from her eyes and cut trails through the ashes smeared across her face. "All this destruction, all this killing…?"

No one answered her. Tristan took a daring look at Yugi. He was almost angry with him, yet he knew that what they did had to be done for the sake of the war. He expected Yugi's expression to be hard, rigid, neutral. What he found instead were the gray swirls of guilt in his eyes, and the heart that knew they had done the right thing behind them.

* * *

(One) – Tristan told him the story; therefore, Yugi knows what he's talking about.

(Two) – I said it was in the window… because it would look weird if the word just appeared over the monster. After all, this is real life, at least for them.

(Three) – This is a true story. My Blackland Fire Dragon was only level fourteen, and my Gazelle, thirty-five. Blackland had more attack points, even though they both started at the same number (1500).

(Four) – You guys have no idea how long it took me to think of a way to start that fire. I mean, there's really no indication of anything in the game, and since the technology is somewhat limited in that realm, you can't just walk in with a flame-thrower, can you? This was part of the reason I was stuck: I had to think of something to do with the fire.

SC: Wow. Was that last part dark or what? (whistles) That's pretty awesome, says I. Or maybe I'm just crazy. Now is a good time to remind all you wonderful readers out there that this is indeed a war story, so things may be more like that from now on. And it'll get much cooler later. (weird eyebrow movement)

This is my first "one-game-chapter-per-chapter" chapter. All my previous ones are multiple parts. I just didn't want this one to be bogged down. There may be more of these, maybe. (shrugs)

And now, responses to the lovely reviews I have received:

**Meowth's Toon Dragon** – Thanks for the review! I hope you can understand the story, even without playing the game (that's my goal). I really recommend the game, though; it's one of the best games, in my opinion, since it has such an awesome plot. Plus it's just fun!

**DragonBoy178** – Sorry to not answer your question at the beginning of the chapter: I just wanted to keep things uniform. At one point I was going to do all three, but after replaying Kaiba's half I have determined that I don't like it, and therefore I don't want to write about it. I might do Joey's (and that is a big "might"), but really my only focus right now is good ol' Yugi. And don't worry about long reviews, I like it when people have a lot to say about my story (good or bad!). I tend to leave long reviews as well. Also, I hope you enjoy the length of this chapter. It's fifteen pages, size twelve font in Word. (thumbs-up sign)

**Blackcat16200** – Thanks for the compliment! Of course the game doesn't have any detail, it's there just to make my life hard. Even though I sort of like it because it lets me use much more creative license than normal, it still makes me think, and in places I get stuck. I've never seen game fanfiction around here either, not even DoR stuff. (shrug) It's nice to know that I'm "blazing a trail" of sorts. Thanks again for the lovely review… Knowing that someone who has the game likes my story makes me grin! See? (takes a picture of self and shoves it through computer screen)

Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you leave another review to make me happy! (does the happy author dance)


	8. Battle for Tsughut

SC: _Regardez, c'est un nouveau chapitre pour vous._ (Look, it's a new chapter for you.) _J'espère que vous l'aimerez_. (I hope that you will like it.) _J'aime parler français_. (I like to speak French.) _Retournons à l'histoire maintenant_. (Let's return to the story now.)

**Battle for Tsughut**

_After the great victory on the Central Way, the only enemy forces left are those of Kepulia in Tsughut. Realizing that he is at a disadvantage, he has fortified the defenses at the castle and holed up there. Yugi's forces are having difficulty breaking the defenses. Will they be able to take Tsughut and free the island?_

Echoing footsteps sounded in the castle's main hall. A swift-footed messenger approached the throne, his cloak billowing behind. When he reached the throne and the man sitting atop it, the messenger knelt before him.

"Governor Kepulia, my lord," he said smoothly. "I bring news from the Central Way."

"Ah? Speak, dog," Kepulia answered, his voice sharp and bellowing. One could tell by looking that he lived in the lap of luxury: he was an overweight man whose forest and turquoise robes barely fit him. The expanse of the hall barely contained his enormous presence. With one pudgy hand he adjusted the three-pronged headdress he wore irritably.

"My lord, sir, Granus has been killed."

Like the cry of a wounded hippo, Kepulia exclaimed, "WHAT? My most powerful general? By whom?"

"The rebels, sir. They've taken a nasty toll on us. Many soldiers have been defeated or killed."

"And our supplies?"

"Taken or destroyed, sir," the messenger replied. "This province is the last one left unclaimed, and the capital, our last stronghold."

"Blast those rebels!" Kepulia hissed, spit coming from between his teeth. "They'll be coming here next. We can't let them take the capital. It would mean the downfall of the island!

"Send an order to all the nearby forts and castles: 'Fortify your positions. Acquire cannons, build barricades, and don't let leave a single man. Do anything necessary to destroy the rebels once and for all.'"

The messenger nodded. "Yes, sir, my lord. I shall deliver your message to the troops."

"Not a word of this to anyone with access to the mainland," Kepulia added quickly. "The Emperor will have my head if he hears of this."

"Yes." The messenger turned and walked toward the wide wooden doors that led out of the castle. In his mind, Kepulia's orders replayed. An almost spiteful thought bubbled up.

_The Emperor will have your head, only if the rebels don't tear it off first.

* * *

_

The bittersweet emotions of Granus's defeat were not held long, for soon the resistance was faced with its most challenging mission yet: the liberation of Tsughut. The forces in the capital province alone were at least double those of the rest of the island put together. No doubt, too, that the man in charge had heard of their escapades and was prepared to fight them. Pressure weighed heavily on the resistance's shoulders.

"We have reached the final hurdle," said Shimon. "We face the last of the island's Imperial army."

Fizdis nodded. "I'd like to see Mom and Dad again," she said quietly. Her family lived in Tsughut under Kepulia's rule.

"How are we going to fight?" asked Tristan. "The Empire knows we're coming. They'll outnumber us for sure."

"There's only one way we can fight," said Yugi sternly. "Head-on. A fight with everything we have and have attained." He paced over to a map that Shimon had left unattended the ground. With firm eyes he stared at their part of the island. "We'll attack this castle atop the hill," he said. "It is the only true threat between us and Tsughut."

No one said anything otherwise.

The resistance moved under the full light of day. They knew no one from the Empire would bother them. All were kept walled up, defending castles. It would have been a nice change of pace, to enjoy the daylight, if such a critical battle wasn't looming before them. They stopped to rest in a wide grassy field. It was the last piece of land not smudged by the Empire's sooty hands. Shimon flew ahead, in order to contact his intelligence and see if they knew any of the details of the Empire's strategy. Everyone else lounged around for a moment before picking up where they left off in their travels.

Their journey was painfully quiet. Tristan kept shooting glances between the two others with him. Fizdis looked incredibly nervous and anxious at the same time, if that was possible. Though he didn't really know much about her, since he hadn't been with the resistance that long, she seemed to him to be very much what she looked: a young girl oblivious to the true pain and sacrifice of war. More things were sure to happen, a lot of them worse than what had happened the night before. Tristan hoped she would be able to handle them when they came.

Then his gaze came to Yugi. His friend had a look of intense concentration; his eyes were filled with such sharp thoughts that Tristan wouldn't be surprised if the next thing he looked at popped like a balloon. This was predictable of Yugi, to be so utterly silent and stern of countenance, and yet he still possessed an unpredictable streak to rival Joey's. That was one of the things that made the resistance leader so dangerous, at least in Tristan's opinion. Even though he was his friend and knew nothing would befall him if he asked, he was hesitant to pry into Yugi's train of thought. For now, the silence would continue to reign.

After an endless wave of bleary travel, the three met up with Shimon again. "Lord Yugi, sir," he said after climbing off his dragon, "I have just spoken with my intelligence."

"And? What do they know?"

"…Nothing. Not one detail of the Empire's strength or strategy has reached them."

So the resistance would be fighting blind. _Not a thing that Yugi would want us to do_, thought Tristan.

Yugi's nod was meaningless. "All we can do is press forward."

* * *

Atop its declarative hill, the castle leaned toward them with slate eyes. It was filled with soldiers, many of them marshals with monsters at their disposal. All in all, not good odds for the resistance, yet they had no other choice. They had to fight here, if only to go down fighting, to learn anything about the Empire's defenses. The four members of the resistance formed a meager line facing the castle. The plan was to summon the rest of their monsters when they got close enough, and find some way into the castle.

Other than that, the orders were simple: charge.

"Ready?" asked Yugi of the others. Their deafening silence knocked him between the shoulders. There was a never-ending moment of motionless worry before they surged forward as one. Seiyaryu and Kaiser Dragon took to the skies beside their land-bound companions. The castle stretched up into the sky as they neared. Only a few hundred yards separated them from the castle wall.

BOOM!

The ground behind them erupted like a geyser of earth. Smoke and dust billowed into the sky. Yugi jerked on Seiyaryu's reins instinctively and so forcibly that they almost could have flipped over backward. He whirled around and saw a smoldering crater several yards behind them. It was roughly the same size as Uraby.

BOOM!

Another rumbling sound shot across the sky. Split seconds later the earth burst again, this time closer, on their left. A hail of dirt and pebbles rained over them.

"They've got cannons!" Yugi yelled just before another telltale _BOOM_ sounded. Uraby leapt forward to avoid the impact, and only narrowly succeeded. Fizdis raised her arms over her head to shield herself from the falling debris. "Tristan, Fizdis! Pull back! You two are more vulnerable!

"Shimon, get higher! We're harder to hit in the air!" He nodded and Kaiser Dragon flapped furiously to get up, Seiyaryu doing much the same. No sooner had they ascended than they were again under siege.

RA-CHAT! RA-CHAT!

A swarm of bullets bore down upon them, biting the air as they passed. Yugi's eyes snapped to the castle and saw the gleam of the enemy's artillery. What he had previously thought to be cannons turned out to be a line of Catapult Turtles firing purplish spheres of energy. On a tier above them stood a row of rocklike monsters bearing guns on their shoulders, Barrel Rocks. They had been responsible for the aerial assault.

RA-CHAT! RA-CHAT! Another barrage confronted them. Seiyaryu tucked in its wings and swooped lower to the ground, beneath the shots. Preparing to fly up again, it stalled at only a few feet's altitude.

**BOOM!**

The explosion blasted just beneath them. Heat and dirt and rock, stifling and blinding, was thrust upward upon them. A wayward piece of shrapnel hit Yugi in the face and left a gash below his right eye. He heard a roar of agony from Seiyaryu. The sensation of falling came upon them both, and when the smoke had cleared both were on the ground.

Yugi touched the wound on his cheek and drew a hissed breath. He looked to his dragon; "Seiyaryu–!" A layer of blood coated the feathers on its left wing. Its whole arm was bedecked with cuts and seeping trails of crimson liquid. Part of the cannon shot had struck his dragon directly, and flying debris had caused the rest of the damage.

"Yugi!" Tristan, atop Gazelle, dashed up beside him. "Are you okay?"

He ignored the inquiry. "We have to get out of here!" he hollered. "We can't stand up to them!"

Tristan hesitated for a moment, taken aback. "…Right. Get on – your dragon can't fly!" Yugi turned back to Seiyaryu to find Fizdis helping it get on Uraby's back. Tristan literally pulled Yugi up behind him. As soon as he was on Gazelle took off on the retreat. The resistance ran to get out of the cannons' range, to the plains were they had started. (1)

* * *

"Well, that could have gone better," Tristan said blatantly as they resettled among the warm glow of the meadow. Yugi wasted no time in leaping off and running over to where Uraby was standing, Seiyaryu still on his back. By now much of the blood on its feathers had dried but the wounds themselves still glistened.

"Seiyaryu…" The rose-colored dragon growled feebly. Yugi and Fizdis tried as best they could to keep the injury still as Uraby bowed and they slid him off. Yugi knelt beside his dragon. "Hey. Are you going to be okay?"

"He should be fine, after he has some Blue Medicine," said Shimon. "Traces of the wound may linger, but the pain should be lessened considerably."

Yugi nodded, and stroked his dragon's neck gently. "You hear that Seiyaryu? A Blue Medicine would make you better." Seiyaryu bent its neck and nipped at the gem around its neck. Feather traces of cerulean light danced upon the cuts on its arm. The wounds started to heal, although it would be several minutes before the process was complete. Yugi smiled at Seiyaryu and stood up.

"Oh, Yugi!" Fizdis cried suddenly. "You're hurt too!"

He stared at her, only now remembering the cut on his cheek and the thin trail of blood it had left trailing down to his chin. "I'm fine!" he said, quickly turning his head away as she tried to get a better look at it. However, it was now in full view to Tristan.

"Ouch. Yugi, that looks like it hurts," Tristan said, eyeing the purplish maroon of the cut.

"It doesn't," he countered. This wasn't entirely true; a great deal of dirt had gotten into it during the explosion, and every few moments the cut would bite into him with a throb. Yugi could ignore it for now. "Besides, we have more important things to deal with right now."

"Yes," agreed Shimon. "We need to find a way to break through the Empire's outstanding military organization. Finding a weakness to the castle should be our main priority."

Putting his hands behind his back, Yugi began customarily pacing. "It's very well defended," he said like he was thinking aloud. "Almost overwhelmingly so."

"Yeah," said Tristan with a nod. "Unless we do something, we're just going to continue to sustain damage. There's got to be something else we can try."

"But Shimon's intelligence didn't know anything!" said Fizdis worriedly. "How are we supposed to find out what they didn't?"

"Maybe they didn't look in the right places," Yugi said suddenly. "I have an idea. I'll visit one of the surrounding villages and towns and see what I can find out there. Maybe, by living here for so long, the people will have picked up on something."

"Lord Yugi, if you are to do this, you should be careful. There are those who still support the Empire, and would turn you in if they found you," Shimon reminded him.

Yugi flashed a smirk. "Then I'll just have to not be found."

* * *

Less than an hour later, Yugi entered the small town of Ithuvak a few miles away from the hilltop castle they were trying to capture. He had had Shimon fly him there on Kaiser Dragon, and then told him to go back to the others. Seiyaryu's gem was tucked safely into his pocket, along with those of his other monsters and the purple one that was his. Shimon had told him that only marshals had such things, so it behooved Yugi to hide them, at least for now.

Taking in one last breath, he stepped into the main part of the town. He had thrown a plain, brown, cloak-like piece of fabric around himself, so as to hide his normal clothes. Tristan had been the one to think up that one: they both doubted that people saw school uniforms and leather often around here. As he walked he realized that he had forgotten to remove the collar from around his neck and the gold and silver bands at his wrists. He was afraid that someone might see them, but was even more worried about taking them off now, as it would only draw attention to them. Then there was the one, unavoidable, telltale thing that made Yugi stand out the most. He had been unable to find a way to hide his wild hair. He sincerely hoped that word of his appearance had not gotten around. Otherwise, people would be recognizing him right and left.

The town itself was something one typically read about in history books. Since this was the main street, in the heart of the town, many traders and merchants had set up shop here beneath awnings of colorful fabric. The ground beneath Yugi's feet had a thin layer of hay over it, and small animals were constantly running about, being chased by children. All around him people shouted for others to come and view the wonderful things they had to sell and trade.

Yugi came upon what appeared to be a makeshift stage, set back in an alleyway away from most of the hustle and bustle. There was a sun-worn piece of parchment nailed to the front of it:

"Seek the answers from the traveled man. Daily excursions bring back news from the capital and other places."

People were standing in front of the stage expectantly. _Perhaps I can learn something from this person_, thought Yugi. _It looks like he's about to go on._

Not a moment later, one of the spectators shouted a name. A man in a white tunic and dusty brown vest clambered up onto the structure. He paused for a moment as those in the audience shuffled closer, and more people who had been doing some last minute trading scrambled in from the street. Yugi let them all pass and hung around the back of the group near the wall, so that he wouldn't be seen. The group became silent, as the man looked ready to speak.

"My people," he said, his voice strong and stroked with the sound of wisdom of many years. "I, like on every day, bring you the details of our island. Ignorance is ever more deadly in these tumultuous times."

"Tumultuous because of those rebels!" barked an older man. Yugi's eyes widened and he shrank a little bit within the folds of his cloak. "They are the cause of these new restrictions Lord Kepulia has inflicted upon us!" Several people around him murmured incoherent things, not really agreeing or disagreeing with him.

The man on stage turned his wary eyes to him. "I see you have an opinion of these – of the resistance. Kindly, share it with us. It is important for us to understand all views."

The man spat arrogantly. "These rebels, they think they're doing what's good for us… and yet they're just restricting us further! Every time they come into contact with the Empire, things get worse: a higher grain tax, taking our livestock for use in the Imperial Army!

"And who says they're what's best? What if they defeat the Empire, only to bring upon us a dynasty as vile as the first?" This time there were affirmative nods about the group, though others voiced their disagreement simultaneously.

"The rebels are fighting for us!" one cried.

Another, "The restrictions upon us are worth it for a change in this pathetic existence!"

The man on stage raised his hands to quiet them down. "Please! I know feelings about the resistance are mixed, but let me deliver the news I heard from the capital. The resistance has recently won a major battle on the Central Way. They defeated the soldiers stationed there, and killed Granus."

"Killed Granus?" the barking man repeated. "Such a rash move; only those with a lust for power would do such!"

"Without Granus, the Empire is weaker," the stage man said innocently.

"The resistance may even defeat Kepulia!" a supporter said.

The barking man glared daggers at him. "Do not think so naïvely of them. They won't win. They can't reach the capital, and I know if I ever see the leader of that damn bunch of dogs, I'll wring his neck myself."

At this point Yugi decided it best to leave the conversation. Touching a hand to his throat, he wondered what he could do next. He had hoped to learn something from the man on stage, but that had proved to be unlucky. Though he had believed Shimon that there were those who didn't like the resistance, and knew that the law of averages meant that at least _somebody_ wouldn't, he had realized there were people like the barking man around that absolutely hated them. Now that he knew that, he knew that he couldn't just go up to people and ask them for information, for fear of triggering a rage-filled outburst like the barking man's or stirring up suspicion as to his identity.

He sighed loudly. There had to be something he could do; he just needed to think of it…

"Oof!" In his thoughts, Yugi had accidentally bumped into something shining white.

"Sorry," Yugi said reflexively, not looking at what he had bumped into.

"It's okay," the person replied. Yugi heard a bit of a British accent lingering over the person's words. He shrugged it off as one of the game programmers' idea of a joke. In a few seconds he felt a hand land suddenly on his shoulder and turned back.

He saw deep brown eyes; swirling like the surface of the ocean and churning like its darker depths beneath. "Yugi!" the person said. "It's you, Yugi, isn't it?"

Yugi almost couldn't believe it, and felt his mouth fall open. "_Ryou!_ You're okay!" Ryou nodded, his blinding white hair swaying with the movement.

"Barely," he said, a bit of weary worry flickering in his eyes despite the smile on his face. "Where is everyone else?"

"Tristan's already here, but I don't know where the others are."

The churning brown bubbled up closer to the surface. "I see." Slowly it submerged itself. "Well, I'm glad that we found each other. What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for…" Yugi lowered his voice. "…Information. I'm trying to find a way past the defenses at the castle guarding Tsughut."

Ryou nodded again. "I've been here for a while, doing the same thing. Have you found anything?"

"Other than the fact that the people hate us, no," he replied dryly.

"Hmm… You're attacking the provincial capital of Tsughut, right? I think I can help you out."

"What?" Yugi exclaimed. In his shock his voice had grown louder and attracted the attention of a few passersby. He reclaimed control of his voice and asked, "How so?"

"I've been snooping around that castle you talked about, and I think I've found something." Ryou glanced around for security before continuing. "You can't march an army through it, but there is a hole in Tsughut's defenses.

"Leave it to me! I'll confuse the guards and destroy their defensive equipment. If you can just hang in there for one more day, you will see a fire in the castle. That means the cannons are out of action, giving you the chance you need to storm the castle!"

The level of confidence in Ryou's voice stunned Yugi, like he had planned out the whole thing and was only waiting for Yugi to arrive and tie everything up. Ryou smiled his warm smile, and turned away. "I'll get on it right away!" he said brightly. "See you in Tsughut!" He dashed away from Yugi and into the crowd of people.

"Ryou! Wait!" Yugi called out, but his snowy hair had already melded in with the sea of brown and sand. Still slightly shocked, the only thing Yugi could do now is go back and tell the others what he had discovered. He made his way to the edge of town and walked a ways beyond on foot. There he summoned Seiyaryu and flew to the fields.

* * *

"Find anything?" Tristan asked when he returned.

"No and yes. Nothing on the enemy's defenses."

"Then what was the 'yes?'"

"I found Ryou," Yugi replied.

"Ryou? _Our_ Ryou?" Tristan repeated.

"Yes."

Tristan brandished his fist in mock anger. "Then why didn't you bring him back with you?"

Yugi sighed heavily. "Ryou said he knew of a weakness at the castle, and was going to infiltrate it and destroy the artillery. I tried to stop him, but he was gone before I could."

At this, Tristan did a double take. "Wait a minute; _Ryou_ was going to do all that? How? He's… well… _Ryou_."

"I don't know. All we can do is trust him. I hope he's all right."

"Who is Ryou?" asked Fizdis anxiously, having been unwilling to disrupt the prior conversation.

Yugi turned to her. "He is… a friend of mine. Of ours," he corrected, motioning between himself and Tristan.

"How is it you know so many people?" she asked, her voice misted with the light scent of hurt jealousy.

_There are more you don't know about,_ thought Yugi. "I don't know; it must be the hair," he teased. "It's like a lightning rod for people." She laughed a bit and seemed to be happier after that.

Shimon stepped forward a bit, drawing their attention to him. "Are we to trust this – this 'Ryou?'" He shook his head a bit. "Such a strange name."

"Yes. I know for certain that Ryou is trustworthy," Yugi told him.

"Me too," added Tristan. "He's a good guy. Certainly a lot more reliable than Joey."

"Who?" asked Fizdis.

Tristan paled a bit. "No one," he said quickly.

"_Anyway, _we should move out," said Yugi. "We need to be near the castle when Ryou does his thing. That way we can make the most of the confusion he causes." Seiyaryu stepped up beside him and he automatically reached out to stroke its neck.

"How long do we have, Lord Yugi?" asked Shimon.

"He said it'd be about a day."

Tristan grinned. "A campout? I love campouts. Who's in charge of bringing the marshmallows?"

"I don't know. It's been so long since I've seen one; Joey usually absorbs them through his skin before I can get a good look at him," Yugi joked. Both boys laughed, leaving Fizdis and Shimon to stare confusedly between the two.

* * *

Night. The mysterious, winged wind rippled the grass and silver hair. Ryou crept forward, following the trail he had planned out: the exact blades of grass to hide in, the slight dip in the hill face to pause in, the extended arm of the night that led him to his destination. Soon he leaned against the cold stone wall. His fingers felt around each stone that they could find, slowly feeling, searching for the right spot.

There was a slight give, undetectable to everyone but those who predicted it, expected it. A single pale finger wriggled into the gap that formed. The gap eased open and allowed his whole hand to enter. Soon the entire stone recognized his expert touch and moved for him, sliding back into the castle. No one saw the silver-haired stranger enter.

The air inside was cold, but not free. Musty scents hung stagnantly in the air. The hall was quiet, and pitch-dark except for the small amount of moonlight shining in from the hole. Ryou replaced the moved rock and stifled the light, yet left it loose enough to be removed when his job was done. No one would notice it.

The darkness veiled his highly visible hair and left only his eyes to be pricked by points of light. Occasionally he would pass beneath a lone torch, smoldering in its bracket on the wall. This was rare. For the most part, the castle was quiet.

He found stairs and began to climb. Soon he was on the roof, overlooking the lands below the hill. Here was where all the movement was: soldiers pacing back and forth, hiding their yawns, and all in all keeping a good watch in case the rebels tried anything sneaky. Little did they know that one of them was already here. Ryou's steely gaze moved to the Catapult Turtles and Barrel Rocks, his real targets. Many of them were absent, having been returned to their gems for the night. Only a few remained to stand guard against the rebels.

Ryou swayed carefully through the shadows. He moved just below the artillery level. He came across two soldiers sitting in chairs and talking to the flickering light of a candle. One of them held a bottle in his hand.

"I still don't see – hic! – why we need ta' be – hic! – up here," the soldier with the bottle said in a wavering voice. Ryou could practically smell the alcohol on his breath from where he stood several feet away. "Ta' rebla's ain't gonna' try nothin' ta-night – hic!"

The other soldier with him sounded extremely annoyed. "We must be here. We are not to underestimate this threat. Already we have done so, and look where it has gotten us so far. No, we cannot take any chances. And give me that!" He seized the bottle from the other soldier's hand and set it down roughly beneath his chair. "You know you're not allowed it on duty."

Ryou saw something else glitter from beneath the chair. There was a small chest, like a jewelry box, with a shining bronze lock on it. The lock was unhinged. Ryou shifted a bit closer, trying to determine what could be inside of it.

"Ya' wouldn't – hic! – tell on me, would ya'… Hey!" Ryou froze instantly. The drunken soldier had seen him. "What ya' doin' here?"

The other solder turned around, and saw Ryou standing there. He stared hard for a moment, then relaxed a bit. "Calm down. It's just one of the servants they have running around here for the higher officers." He looked at Ryou sternly. "What'cha doing up here, boy?"

"I-I… I was sent to see how the both of you were doing," Ryou lied quickly, "and to see if you needed anything. Do you want me to do anything for you?"

"Yeh – more rum!" said the drunken soldier happily, and quite loudly too.

"_No_, I'm this close to turning you in already… I have something for you to do." The other soldier reached beneath his chair and pulled up the bottle. "Take that and get rid of it. Don't let anyone see you with it either, or I'll be in trouble for not reporting it."

Ryou nodded quickly and reached for the bottle. The box on the floor screamed loudly at him. He needed to know what was inside… In a flash of motion too subtle to be seen, he let the bottle slip through his fingers just as the soldier let go.

CLINK! It fell to the ground and rolled just beneath the chair.

"Stupid boy!" spat the soldier. "You could have broken that! Then it'd be you cutting your hand cleaning it up!"

"S-Sorry," Ryou murmured. He knelt down and slowly picked up the bottle. His fingers brushed the edge of the box.

"What's taking so long? Move faster, boy!" the soldier huffed.

Ryou stood up and gave a slight bow. "I'm sorry; I'm awfully tired… I'll let you be." He bowed again and turned away, vanishing quickly into the shadows.

Once he was a good distance away and tucked safely in a crook of the castle, Ryou opened the box and peered inside. At least a dozen monster gems gleamed back at him with the silver kiss of moonlight. There were only two colors: a tan-like brown and a slate green, several of each. It didn't take a genius to figure out that these were the remaining Catapult Turtles and Barrel Rocks of the Imperial Army.

Closing the lid and slipping the box under his sweater, Ryou curled up a bit to get some sleep. No one would find him in his hiding place atop the castle, even with the come of dawn. (2)

* * *

Ryou stirred with the mists that came just before dawn. He blinked bleary eyes and looked around, remembering the events of last night. The box was cold against his chest. He fingered it a bit before glancing at the rest of the castle around him. He couldn't see any guards at the moment, which meant that even the ones assigned to the night shift had turned in. Yet Ryou couldn't do anything just yet… he needed to wait until the sun had risen at least, and give Yugi time to get in place.

About an hour later the sun had risen completely. Every thirty minutes or so Ryou would see a soldier walk by. He was both relieved and worried: relieved, in that they hadn't noticed most of their cannons were missing, and worried because it was only a matter of time before they did.

The sun climbed higher. By now, everyone in the castle should have been awake. He saw more and more soldiers walking by. Ryou was stiff from not moving for so long but he had to hold out a little longer, just to be sure…

He heard a few voices shouting. One was angry, and the other was defending himself. They must have realized the gems were missing.

Now was the time. Ryou opened the box and pulled out a green jewel. He summoned the monster within in a flash. The Catapult Turtle blinked at him sleepily, unsure of what to do next.

"Easy now," said Ryou. "I just need you to do me a favor…" He pushed on the metal launcher attached to the monster's back. He moved it until it was locked onto one of the Barrel Rocks positioned on the roof. "Okay now, I need you to fire."

The Catapult Turtle blinked again, confused. Why destroy own equipment? Suddenly a lick of ebony came from the boy's touch. Sure, will fire for boy, if he wishes it. Purple energy melded into a lump on the launcher, steadily growing bigger. With a loud click of pressure being released the energy was fired at the Barrel Rock.

BOOM!

A chunk of the castle exploded with the monster, shaking the structure all the way down to its foundations. The Imperial soldiers were stunned, but Ryou was already moving the Turtle to a new target.

"Fire," he whispered to it, and another warm ping of ebony told the Turtle that it was all right.

BOOM!

The castle shook again, harder, as another Barrel Rock was blown away. That time the soldiers had seen the shot, and where it had come from.

"We're being fired upon by our own cannons!" one of them cried.

"Not for long," muttered Ryou, as he aimed his cannon at the rest of the Catapult Turtles lined up along the roof. "Fire." Another blast of purple energy shot forward with an earsplitting noise.

BOOM!

The blast hit the first Turtle, breaking off its launcher and a large part of its shell. It went through to the next Turtle, hitting it dead center. Unfortunately for it, it exploded, and the metal components within it burst into flame. The fire flared up into the sky, black smoke crowning its peak.

"That should do it. Yugi could see that a mile away." Ryou patted the Catapult Turtle's head. "Good job." The Turtle grinned inwardly and returned to its gem. Ryou scooped it up, placed it back into the box, and ran for the stairs.

* * *

_BOOM!_

The sound made everyone jump. Yugi looked to the castle and saw a mass of flames atop it. Soldiers ran and shouted around it in an attempt to get it controlled. "Nice work, Ryou," said Yugi with a bit of a smirk.

"This is our best shot!" cried Shimon. "Advance on the castle now!" Kaiser Dragon rose into the air and flew towards the castle.

"Let's go, Seiyaryu!" The rose-colored dragon roared in compliance and flapped up. They zoomed quickly to the castle.

The soldiers had gotten most of the flames to die off, as the stones of the castle roof weren't flammable. There were only smoking pieces of metal, remnants of the monster, when Yugi and Shimon suddenly appeared through the smoke.

"Surprise, surprise!" called Yugi as Seiyaryu launched a fireball at the nearest soldier. He screamed in agony and fell to the ground, writhing. With a hiss Kaiser Dragon seized another in its over-long arms and bit down, _hard_. Blood splashed everywhere and sizzled when it touched the hot pieces of metal.

Inside the castle, on the main floor, soldiers were running around everywhere. "What is the meaning of this?" an officer yelled above the ruckus. "What were those cannon shots? Who's firing on us?"

"Sir! An unknown force has destroyed the cannons we left stationed on the roof last night!"

"Where are the others?"

"They're missing, sir!"

The officer looked around wildly. "Certainly it couldn't be the work of those–"

THUD.

"What the…?"

THUD. THUD. THU-CRACK!

Just then the front door of the castle snapped at its hinges and fell in. The sunlight from outside shone in past the outlines of three dinosaurs.

"Wake up, everyone! It's time for your friendly neighborhood band of rebels to kick your Imperial asses!" Tristan stepped through the door. Gazelle and Blackland Fire Dragon stood behind him, fangs bared menacingly. Blackland Fire Dragon even had tendrils of smoke coming out of its nose.

"Charge, Uraby!" cried Fizdis, pointing into the mass of soldiers, now paralyzed at the shock of their entrance. Uraby roared and leapt forward onto one of the stationary soldiers. Curved claws dug into his body, twisted themselves around, and pulled apart, effectively ripping the man open. With a swipe of his tail Uraby flung his mangled body away. (3)

The Imperial soldiers were terrified. "Fight back!Destroy the rebels!" yelled the officer, and yet most of his men weren't even marshals. They had nothing to fight back with but their bare fists.

Which, by the way, Tristan was making good use of.

"Take that!" he declared, landing a hefty punch to a soldier's stomach. The soldier wheezed and fell over. Gazelle pounced upon him not a moment later, and finished him off.

Megazowler took out two in a row by simply charging through them. Crimson liquid sprayed onto its horns and crest. After the charge the dinosaur had to stop, as some of the blood was dripping into its eyes. One soldier had obtained a sword from somewhere and was sneaking up on it.

"RASHOAR!" Three blasts of flame converged upon the foul-playing soldier. A gale of fire consumed him and he fell. Megazowler turned around and eyed the corpse blankly for a moment, then looked at the sword laying a few feet away. He looked up and saw both King Rex and Blackland Fire Dragon, each with smoke filtering past their teeth. The two fire-breathers looked at each other, then grinned fanged grins. They split up again to finish destroying the Imperial soldiers.

Between the fire and blood that kept bursting forth all over the entryway, most of the men were already dead. The officer was still alive though, and summoned a monster. "Slot Machine! Fire your Plasma Laser Cannon!" The giant mechanical monster took a step forward as light particles began collecting within the cannon on its arm.

"I don't think so!" came a voice from behind. There was a loud squawking noise followed by a rush of flame. The fire hit the end of the cannon and melted it shut. Already a lot of power had built up inside, and with nowhere to go the arm simply exploded, taking a chunk of the Slot Machine with it. The officer whirled around to see who had launched the attack and came face to face with an evil, yellow grin. The point of a scythe hovered only inches from his nose.

"_Hyi, hyi, hyi…_" the thing laughed, and the scythe plunged through.

"Tristan!" Seiyaryu and Yugi swooped in through the open door. "How goes the fight down here? Are you all right?"

King Rex bit into the last remaining man and pulled in opposite directions with its heads. His skin tore deeply and his life ceased to be. "Yeah," answered Tristan. "I think we got them all."

Shimon flew in through the door. "I have searched the castle, and did not see signs of any other people."

"So have we taken the castle?" asked Tristan.

"Yes." Everyone turned to find a boy with fragile white hair standing in the middle of the carnage. He looked horribly out of place, like an angel that had dropped by for a visit to Hades. Behind him was a Parrot Dragon, its head feathers fluffed up like a cockatoo's. Floating over to the side was a Bickuribox. The scythe in its hands dripped with blood.

"Ryou!" Tristan and Yugi said at the same time, and ran over to him.

"That was awesome!" Tristan said, and slapped a hand on his shoulder.

Ryou sweatdropped. "Thanks – I think." He turned his deep eyes to Yugi. "I should have known you wouldn't need my help, Yugi," he said.

"Nonsense," Yugi countered. "If you hadn't confused the enemy first, our attack wouldn't have gone so smoothly. Thanks."

"Well, good. I'm glad I was able to help a bit." Ryou looked around at all who were standing. "I'd like to stay with you from here on out. Is that okay with you?" he asked tentatively.

"Sure! We're happy to have you!" Yugi grinned at him, and Ryou beamed.

"Wait a minute," Tristan said suddenly. "Where's Fizdis?"

"O-over here," a meek voice said. Yugi turned and saw her sitting half-hidden behind a stone column. Her knees were drawn up and she had hidden her face within them. "Is it over…?" she asked quietly, like she had to restrain the urge to cry or get up and run.

"The fight? Yes," answered Yugi. He walked over to her. "Fizdis, are you okay?"

"It's just… yes, but I didn't like that…" She looked up at him, and he saw the beginnings of tears in her eyes. "I thought I could be brave like you, but then all the killing… I'm sorry I'm so weak."

"Fizdis… You're not weak. I think you were very brave, coming here. There are those who would not risk it to come at all. For that, you are brave."

She sniffed up some of her tears. "Yugi…" She stood up and smoothed her skirt embarrassedly. Suddenly she leaned forward and hugged him. "Thank you, Yugi…"

Yugi blinked a few times in surprise. "S-Sure."

"Hey now, I hate to break that up over there, but we should head for Tsughut pretty soon," said Tristan loudly. "We don't want Kepulia to get away."

Fizdis let go and Yugi stepped back. "You're right, Tristan. Let's get going."

* * *

The resistance wasted no time in getting to Tsughut. They approached the shining building of the capital. They literally barged in, and their arrival stirred much commotion among the commoners that witnessed their entry.

"The rebels are here! They've come for Kepulia!"

"Let's wish them good fortune in capturing him!"

The few guards left in the government building that hadn't been shipped to defensive positions fell easily at the hands of Gazelle's claws and Bickuribox's scythe. Soon they reached the throne room, where Kepulia sat like he was stuck in his chair.

"Good morning, Governor Kepulia," said Yugi in a voice that promised harsh things. He walked swiftly towards the man he was addressing. "I'm glad you're enjoying your luxury while your people suffer."

Kepulia paled and squirmed in his seat. "Traitors! You won't take me alone, you treasonous dogs!"

"Oh? I think you're coming very much alone. You're the only one left of your entourage." Yugi flashed a smirk, and the light made his canines look like fangs. "I wonder what your subjects have to say on that matter." He turned back over his shoulder. "Let them in!"

"Gotcha!" Tristan and Ryou pulled hard and opened the door. On the other side stood Fizdis and Shimon, and behind them, a mob of citizens brandishing canes and stones alike. (4)

"Do as you will with him," said Yugi simply. The resistance left after that. They didn't know what fate befell Kepulia.

* * *

"Mom! Dad!" cried Fizdis happily. She ran forward and threw herself into a hug with her parents. Her mother's chocolate eyes danced with happiness, while her father simply smiled down at his wonderful daughter.

Ryou and Tristan were chatting it up, telling each other stories of what had happened in this place so far to them.

Shimon had disappeared to who knows where, probably to get in touch with his intelligence again.

All this made Yugi realize that he suddenly felt alone. Everyone had somebody to be with… somebody to make them happy.

All he wanted… was her.

* * *

Notes:

(One) – That all seemed rather abrupt, didn't it?

(Two) – I wonder how Ryou managed to do all that. Maybe Bakura has rubbed off on him. Or maybe, it wasn't all his doing.

(Three) – I'm getting gorier in my old age.

(Four) – Don't we all love our friendly neighborhood angry mobs?

SC: Wow. I wrote eighty-five percent of this chapter in two days. I am about to die.

This chapter was so boring… I'm sorry my chapters are getting boring, guys… The game doesn't talk about the actual _lives_ these guys are living here, so I thought it'd be more interesting to talk about some of that stuff instead of about the game-centric stuff. This chapter is out a week earlier than I predicted, though, so I guess that's good.

I'll leave it up to you to decide who the "_her_" Yugi was talking about is. (evil laughter, then stops, remembering all the clues in previous chapters) Dang it! Well, if you go back to older chapters, please review! (grin)

Responses to my lovely reviews:

**Chibi Tora** – I like Joey too! I hope you like the many references I made to him this chapter (three, I think). Thank you for the compliment on my story. I'm glad knowing someone likes it. As for your question, could you be a little more specific? The last level on Yugi's side, or Kaiba's? There aren't any barriers that I know of, unless you're talking about the maze-ish part. If that's what you mean, then you just have to go in straight lines down the walkways.

**bast4** – Thank you for reading the story. If you do read more, please review the other chapters! Yes, another VR story, except this one's official since it's based off a game. (grin) I'm not trying to be show-centric here, more manga- and game-centric. (The manga-centric part is like the cursing and violence stuff.)

**Thunderstorm101** – I like scary Yugi too. If you like scary Yugi, then you should stick around until I get to the "Counterattack" chapter. I already have some of it written, and it is really, really scary (at least by the show standards). I'd feel sorry for the Empire too. (laugh) Thanks for the great compliment too.

There you have it! Please review; it makes me feel special and when I feel special I tend to write more!


	9. Turbulent Waters

SC: Ah-hmm. I'm sorry for getting a slow start on this thing. I want to try and make up for the load of crud that was the last chapter. (throws rocks at last chapter)

I hope this is swash-buckling enough to please you all.

**Turbulent Waters**

_Having freed all of Vaxi Island, Yugi's resistance army has secured a firm power base. The resistance is now gathering its troops to cross over the Gigan-Syip Strait and take a foothold on the mainland. The loss of Kepulia and Vaxi has left the Imperial forces badly shaken. The coast is almost undefended. However, although small in number, General Secmayton leads a unit well-versed in naval warfare. They plan to stop the resistance before it reaches the mainland. Will Yugi find a way to defeat Secmayton's naval unit and reach the mainland?_

The resistance was brimming with pride and feelings of success. They had freed an entire island from the Empire's reign. The populace was in high spirits too. Even those that had been unsupportive of the resistance's campaign were now forced to reconsider their opinions. If these young rebels could drive the Empire from a whole island… Everywhere people whispered rumors of what other feats they could achieve. Many people donated their gold, allowing the resistance to restock on items and food before crossing over to the mainland.

"I'm going to miss you, Mom. You too, Dad," said Fizdis, hugging both her parents tightly. The cry of seagulls overhead swirled in with the sea breeze that caressed the land. They were standing on a pier, preparing to board the ship that would take them across the strait.

"We know. We'll miss you too." Her mother kissed her forehead. "We're so proud of you; we want you to keep safe and come back to us. Will you promise us this?"

"Of course, Mom."

The man standing beside her, her father, patted the top of her head. "That's our girl. While you're away, your mother and I are going to move to Makhad. We think things will be a bit quieter out there. When you return, look for us there."

Fizdis nodded. "All right. I–"

"Fizdis! Hurry it up! We're about to leave!" yelled Tristan from the boat. Fizdis gripped her parents one last time and pulled away.

"Bye! I'll miss you!" she told them before turning to the ramp that led onto the boat's deck. Tristan and the rest of the resistance were already on board waiting for her.

"About time," he said once she had boarded.

"Leave her alone, Tristan," called Ryou from the other side of the deck. "At least she has family here that she can spend time with. That's more than you or I can say."

"That's more than any of us can say," Tristan muttered. He saw Yugi standing towards the rear of the ship and walked over to him. "Hey," he said in a quiet voice. "I've been meaning to talk to you. We need to be careful about the crew on the ship. We don't want a repeat of what happened to me…"

"Don't worry. Shimon scoped the boat out ahead of time. He was worried it might be under the control of the Imperial navy, as they've been known to terrorize the area from the sea. People in the village assured him that this ferry has been running peacefully for a long time. I doubt there are any bandits here." As he spoke, Yugi watched a pair of crewmen untie the ropes from the dock. A third pulled the ramp up onto the deck. The boat itself was fairly large; it was designed to carry groups of people and goods back and forth between Vaxi and the Rondeval continent. The five resistance members were its only passengers: everyone in town was taking the day off from business in order to celebrate Kepulia's defeat. Only they continued to press onward. A gust of wind rose up behind them and filled the great sail attached to the mast. Slowly the ship began to pull away from the dock.

"Speaking of Shimon, where'd that guy run off to?"

Yugi chuckled a bit. "He said something about not liking the sea and hurried off below deck to be with the captain. I think he's afraid of getting seasick."

"You'd never know if he was or not: his face is already blue!" Tristan said with a grin. Both boys laughed.

"Bye!" called Fizdis, leaning over the side and waving to her parents still on the dock. "Don't worry about me! I'll keep all these boys in line!"

"Hey!" both Yugi and Tristan said at once. Fizdis looked at them and blushed a bit.

"It was only a joke…"

The wind pushed them forward, and soon they had lost sight of the city behind them. They sailed past a few scattered rocks and sandbars, until their only companion was the open ocean.

"I just love the sea air," commented Ryou as he leaned against the handrail. The movement of his hair in the breeze mimicked the foam on the ocean waves beneath them. "It's so invigorating."

Yugi came and leaned next to him. "Mmm," he agreed. "It's nice to be at peace for once: not hiding from the enemy or fighting or anything." Casually he glanced at his friend's monster gems. "So, Ryou, what about your monsters? Are they doing well?"

"Hmm? Oh yes, I suppose… although they're a bit too crazy for me. I believe Parrot Dragon's favorite activity is to squawk as loudly as possible and see how many people she can annoy; I've never met anyone so attached to sharp objects as Bickuribox… and my last one…"

"What is it? I haven't seen it yet."

Ryou sighed. "I've tried to get rid of it, but the bloody thing keeps following me… It won't leave me alone…"

Yugi asked again, "What is it?"

"Here, I'll show you…" Ryou grabbed one of the gems and held it up. Sunlight sparkled on it before a burst of light came forth and a monster appeared. It had dark purple fur that contrasted with the bright atmosphere around them. Beneath towering ears a pair of googly eyes stared with a dazed look. Its tongue lolled out of its mouth stupidly.

Yugi was stunned for a moment. "Dark Rabbit?" he finally said. "A Toon monster?"

"_Yes_," Ryou said through a heavy sigh. "I've been stuck with him since I got here." The Dark Rabbit blinked for the first time that Yugi had seen since being summoned. It grinned at Ryou, whom rolled his eyes. "Every time I look at it, I think of…"

"…Pegasus?" Yugi supplied. Ryou nodded and shoved Dark Rabbit's finger away. It had been trying to poke him in the shoulder. With a laugh Yugi said, "Then I can see why you'd want to get rid of it."

"Yeah…"

"You two! Sir." A crewman stepped forward and nodded to Yugi curtly. "Our captain wishes to inform you that we are almost halfway across the strait. It should be another two hours or so before we get there. Also, he says there might be a storm coming, so be ready in case one hits us." With that the crewman snapped his heels together and walked away.

"A storm?" Ryou repeated. "That can't be good."

"I just heard about it too," said Fizdis as she came over to their side of the boat. She looked over the side at the water with a bit of uncertainty. "I hope we don't run into one… I'd be scared to be in a storm in the middle of the ocean."

Yugi shook his head. "Don't worry, Fizdis. The sky's still clear, and the ocean looks calm. I'm sure we'll miss it."

* * *

The ocean turns to darkness as the clouds turn with the wind. 

Now the sky was not so clear, and the ocean not so calm. Dark billowing clouds loomed over them, filling every part of the sky in every direction. Around them the waters churned, almost boiled. Wind blew in their faces and snapped the sails. Rain threatened to spill onto them from the near-black sky.

Ryou gripped the guardrail tightly as a wave rocked their boat. "Now I'm not so sure I like the sea air!" he cried over the wind.

"Me neither!" agreed Tristan. "Man, this storm came out of nowhere! I didn't even see it coming!" The bow of the boat split a wave, sending a salty spray over them. He saw Fizdis huddled in the middle of the deck, practically hugging the mast. He called out to her: "Hey, Fizdis! You okay?"

"No!" she yelled back, keeping her eyes shut. "I hate storms on land! This one's ten times worse!" Fizdis made an "Eeep!" noise as a particularly strong wave rocked them. "We're going to drown, I know it!"

"Fizdis, calm down! We'll be okay!" cried Yugi from the side opposite Ryou. The ship's constant tilting made the guardrail more of a lifeline. Suddenly a roll of thunder boomed overhead and sheets of rain began pouring over them. Everyone was immediately soaked by the penetrating cold water. Yugi's bangs stuck to his face and made it even harder to see through the rain.

"Oh no, not rain!" said Ryou with a hint of panic in his voice. The sky blazed white-blue for a moment as a bolt of lightning raced out of the sky, striking the water on Yugi's side of the ship. "Lightning, too! This could be more dangerous than we thought!"

Yugi didn't hear him. He had suddenly become intent with staring at the water beside the boat, just where the lightning had struck. Why would lightning strike something so low and relatively flat like the ocean when there was a ship with a tall mast not ten feet away?

BOOM! Another thunderclap sounded and lightning came down again. It came on Yugi's side again, hitting the water as it did before. This time, though, for a split second, he saw something beneath the water sparkle with blue sparks before fading into the black water again. His eyes grew wide but before he could ponder it he heard a shriek. "Fizdis!"

"Miss, please! It's only me!" One of the crewmen had his hands on her shoulders. "I'm sorry for scaring you! It's too dangerous to be up here on the deck! You should come under with the captain!" Fizdis looked up at him and nodded. He helped her back on her feet and led her towards the trap door that covered the ladder to the lower level.

Ryou and Tristan moved to follow them. Yugi turned back to look at the water again. There was nothing visible in the churning blackness. He was about to turn away when the blue sparks returned under the waves. Whirling back around, he had just enough time to see the outline of the shadow before another fork of lightning came down to meet it lighting up the water and brightening the image just barely…

A long, twisting shadow, with a crown of spikes and yellow-beaded eyes…

…A sea serpent?

The crewman had opened the hatch on the ladder and offered for Fizdis to go down first. She thanked him and swung her legs into the hole. As the crewman moved to hold her arms steady, some of the fabric of his uniform moved, revealing a touch of glimmering blue around his neck that sparkled like a jewel. The crewman lowered Fizdis halfway down the ladder, but neither his kindness nor the rain hid the faint smirk that crossed his lips from Yugi.

A flash of rose pierced the darkness. "Seiyaryu!" The dragon appeared with blazing sapphire eyes. A mass of flames shot forth from its beak, unhindered by the pounding rain. The crewman saw it and jumped backward out of its path. Fizdis flailed to grip the ladder before she fell into the hole. She gasped along with Ryou and Tristan.

"Yugi! What the heck was that for?" hollered Tristan. Yugi ignored him and turned back to the water. He stared hard and knew the beast was still there.

"Shining Plasma!" Seiyaryu obeyed and launched another blast over the railing. The ocean water lessened the force of the attack considerably but the shadow had been close enough to the surface to still get hit. The shadow reared up out of the water with a pained screech that rattled the rain-filled air.

Tristan, Fizdis, and Ryou stared at the beast as it screeched and lashed the water with its tail. "A sea serpent?" asked Fizdis frightfully.

"Not just any sea serpent – a Spike Seadra, a monster that controls lightning," said Yugi sternly, not taking his eyes off the beast. Seiyaryu growled at the monster beside the boat. It had recovered from the hit and was hissing at them, yellow eyes glinting coldly.

Preoccupied with the Spike Seadra, no one noticed the crewman take a few steps back and glare darkly at them all. Turning over the rail of the boat he roared at the waves, "Aqua Breath!" Waves suddenly changed direction as the serpentine neck of another monster broke the surface. It had green scales and a dragon-like face, a Sea King Dragon. Water gurgled in its mouth as it prepared to attack.

Ryou had enough sense to turn around and saw the monster about to fire. He followed its eyes and saw it to be locked on Tristan. "Tristan, look out!" he cried to his friend just as a rushing stream of water was released. Tristan turned but didn't have enough time to react as the water hit him in the shoulder. He was slammed against the mast with the force of the attack. The water died down and he was left sputtering and clutching his shoulder. The attack hadn't even been at full strength and still it felt to Tristan as though a boulder had been thrown at him. "Tristan! Are you all right?"

"I – cough – yeah!" he replied, though he leaned heavily on the mast for support.

Yugi rounded on the crewman. "Seiyaryu!" he began. "Shining–!"

"Ah-ah-ah!" the crewman interrupted, waving his finger in the air. "I wouldn't attack me, or else…"

"AAAH!" Fizdis suddenly shrieked. Still holding on to the ladder, she lurched downward as though the boat itself was drawing her in. "Yugi, help! They've got me!"

"'They?"" Ryou repeated. "Who…?"

"My shipmates. They just want to make sure she's safe from the storm," said the crewman coldly.

"Safe from the storm! You just don't want the storm to do your job for you, _Imperial_ dogs!" snapped Yugi.

The crewman laughed. "I'm not surprised you figured us out. It was a good plan, really: drag you out here where there was no hope of escape, use our monsters to create a storm and lure you below deck…"

"Where I'm sure captivity and or death are waiting for us!"

"Your intelligence man Shimon has been down there the whole time," commented the crewman airily. "Never once did any of you wonder what had become of him." He looked over to the ladder, where Fizdis was no longer visible. "And now I see that the girl has joined him. That makes two. If you three don't follow her, then you'll only hasten her fate."

* * *

"AAAH!" Fizdis landed on the dampened planks of the lower deck with a thud. She didn't have time to recover from the fall as the remaining two crewmen were already bearing down upon her. 

"Look what we have here..." one of them said through his teeth. A scar like a hook circled his left eye. "Welcome, little Miss. I'm glad you've decided to join us. Your friend here has been awfully lonely down here by himself." He motioned behind him to Shimon. He was tied down to a chair and had been gagged by the veil of his hat.

"Shimon!" cried Fizdis with worry. "Let him go!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that," the scarred crewman said. "I can let you share his fate, though..." Shadows hid their evil grins as the two men loomed over her. One of them put his calloused hands on her shoulders.

Fizdis paled. She felt a shriek rise in her throat, but instead of a sound of fear something else escaped her lips: "Uraby!"

The raptor appeared so suddenly his massive head rammed the scarred crewman in the stomach, sending him flying back past Shimon. Ruby eyes flashed in the scarce light. He hissed defiantly, daring those who had attacked his master to face _him_ instead. Shimon let out a muffled gasp; the crewman behind him stood up and glared. "A monster? My creatures of the sea will have no trouble dealing with the likes of–"

Uraby didn't wait for the crewman to summon the monster from his gem. He leapt forward and knocked the jewel out of the man's hand with his tail. In the seconds following the scarred crewman's shock Uraby pivoted on his toes. With his tail cocked at an odd angle for balance, he raised his left foot high, claws outstretched, and kicked the scarred crewman full in the stomach. He choked, blood coming from his mouth as he fell backwards onto the floor. Uraby placed his foot on the man's chest to prevent his escape. Hissing angrily, Uraby swiped at his face with his claws. The force behind the attack was strong, not only enough to draw bloody lines across the man's face, but enough that when his head moved with the blow it slammed into the floor, made a loud crack, and knocked the man out cold.

The second crewman now looked terrified. He whirled around and stumbled for the ladder. Uraby's fierce eyes caught the movement. In a leap that easily cleared the distance between the two, Uraby landed on bandy legs beside the ladder. Ivory teeth sparkled their song of death for the crewman. "P-Please," he stammered. He backed away with his hands raised defensively. "D-Don't hurt me..."

Uraby held his sneer firm, but looked over to Fizdis. She seemed to pause in consideration of the crewman's words. After a moment, though, her expression turned stern and she shook her head. Uraby smirked and leapt forward upon the crewman, his claws raking against the wooden floor. The crewman screamed as teeth pierced his neck and shoulder in an arch. After several bloodcurdling seconds the sound stopped. The crewman went limp in the dinosaur's jaws. Uraby let him fall to the ground, licking the red liquid from his leathery lips.

Fizdis stood frozen for a moment, stunned, before the situation came back to her. "Shimon!" she cried. She ran to his side and started fumbling with the ropes. Finally she managed to undo them. Shimon sighed and pulled the gag from his mouth.

"Thank you, Fizdis," he said between breaths of air. "I was afraid I would meet my end down here. They grabbed me the moment I came down here. I'm sorry I was unable to warn you or the others of their intentions..."

"The others!" Fizdis suddenly gasped. "They're still on deck!" Without a word of counter from Shimon she made for the ladder and began climbing it hurriedly.

* * *

The boat rocked dangerously as another particularly strong wave swept over them. Around them the storm was growing stronger, with icy winds lashing at their faces. 

"You'll meet your end here, Rebels!" declared the crewman. "You have no chance of surviving. (1) If you fight us, you'll lose... and if you try to escape, then the sea will claim the lives of three more foolish souls who dared to defy her waters. Submit, and you join your friends in captivity."

"That's where you'd be wrong," Yugi cut in, smirking. "I don't think Fizdis is as restrained as you might think."

"Why you–" The crewman froze mid-sentence as a fierce growl came from below the deck. "W-What the…?" Even above the roar of the wind one could hear the sickening sound of claws shredding through wood and then a scream that made the rain falling upon them turn colder. When the scream stopped the chilling silence seemed to tell of the incident in volumes. Fizdis appeared from the trapdoor and all eyes jumped to her.

"Yugi! I've got Shimon!" From below her Shimon shouted his wellbeing. "We took care of the ones below deck!"

"So this slimy sea monkey is the only one left!" Tristan hollered. He punched his fist into the opposite palm, preparing for battle.

The crewman took a step back. "Or so you think. Master Secmayton! We must face the rebels in battle!"

"Agreed!" came a voice through the rain. Beside the boat, atop the Sea King Dragon's shell, rode a figure clad in minimal clothes and brandishing a spear. His body bore the wear and tear of the ocean proudly as medals of honor. The resistance members knew him instantly to be the naval general of legend they had heard about.

With churning force rivaling the ocean herself Secmayton raised his spear high and cried out above the storm: "Rise, beasts of the Sea! Declare your power over those bound to the Land! Destroy the rebels!" The waves let out piercing wails to the darkness. All around the ship the heads of marine monsters broke the surface: Spike Seadras crackled with electricity; Roaring Ocean Snakes acted well upon their names. Not all of them were sea serpents: a Fiend Kraken gurgled next to the boat while an Aqua Madoor and Water Magician crested the thrashing waves.

As the monsters encroached upon the ship Secmayton yelled from his protected perch: "You've done well so far for a bunch of squirts. But the sea is where I fight best! As head of the Imperial navy, I will see the fish pick at your bones!"

The resistance moved to the center of the ship, as far away from the monsters as possible, though the distance was far too meager. Their backs were pressed against the mast. "What are we going to do?" cried Ryou frantically. "We can't fight them with our monsters while they're in the sea! They're untouchable!" Fizdis huddled against the mast fearfully.

"Only by land!" Yugi yelled. "We can still fight them!"

"How?" Ryou shot back. The accumulated effects of the bone drenching rain only darkened his desperation.

Yugi left the "safety" of the mast for his dragon. "To the skies! Fight from where they cannot reach us!" Seiyaryu spread its sopping wings and forced its way up. The sky could have well been a second sea, as it was so thick with water.

"Yugi, are you insane? This storm is huge! The winds are too strong! Flying's not safe!" hollered Tristan.

"Then it's a good thing you'll be staying on the ground, eh? Ryou, Shimon, follow me!"

Ryou took one look at Seiyaryu's battle to stay airborne and almost cried. "We'll never survive that…" Shimon didn't question Yugi's command and summoned Kaiser Dragon in an instant. The dragon's shining scales were drenched immediately, making it hard to stay mounted on his back. Still, Shimon climbed aboard and directed Kaiser Dragon to the sky. Sighing in defeat, Ryou summoned his Parrot Dragon.

"SQUAWK!" she snapped loudly. _Rain is bad!_

Ryou shook his head. "I know, I know… Just follow those two…" Parrot Dragon chirped indignantly but allowed Ryou to clamber on. He was thankful she had a crown of feathers for him to hold on to as the winds started rocking them as soon as they took off. Tilting wildly and feeling the rain's barrage full force, they flew over the sea to where Secmayton stood atop his Sea King Dragon.

"Let him have it, Parrot Dragon!" Ryou held onto his monster tightly as she launched a breath of flame at Secmayton. At this Secmayton smirked and raised his finger. His Sea King Dragon let loose a blast of rushing water with a screech. The two attacks met in the middle, creating a bubbling, boiling, steaming clash of power, but the water soon overpowered the already rain-weakened fire and drove it back. Parrot Dragon tried to hold the water off but was forced to give up. She pulled back to avoid getting hit.

"Your fire attacks mean nothing to my beasts of the Sea!" Secmayton declared.

"Oh yeah? Flame Gale!" Flames suddenly came rushing from the side of the boat. Secmayton didn't have time to call for a water counterattack and his Sea King Dragon took the blow to his neck. A wave came up and washed over the marine monster, cutting off the attack, but still it had been wounded. Secmayton turned a scowl to the boat where Tristan stood authoritively on deck. "Just because we can't fly doesn't mean we can't fight!" Blackland Fire Dragon hissed as smoke wafted from around his teeth.

Secmayton seethed. "You insolent little–!"

"Shining Plasma!" Brilliant flames split the raindrops to strike Sea King Dragon's back a few inches from where Secmayton was standing. Scrambling back, he turned to see Yugi and Seiyaryu floating several yards above.

"Don't forget about us, Secmayton! We won't be taking you or your storm sitting down!"

Secmayton gave a slight laugh. "I see - these are the wily rebels they say are indefatigable in battle. Fighting up to the last scale, and still presumptuous. It'll be a good thing that your meddling influence will never touch the mainland's shores."

"I'll see you to that," said Yugi darkly. "Shining Plasma!"

"Aqua Breath!" Again the powers of fire and water met, but Seiyaryu's fire was of a different type than Parrot Dragon's had been. Its holy flames were much more resistant to the water fighting against it.

"While they take care of that, how about you and I go at it?" asked Tristan of the crewman. "I'd love to throw you overboard after I've swabbed the deck with you." (2) The crewman rolled his eyes. Tristan was angered at his careless reaction, enough to not see a shadow loom down on him.

SQUELCH! A pair of rubbery white arms wrapped around him and jerked him off the deck.

"Hup!" Tristan suddenly found himself face to face with a giant white squid. It gurgled with a sound like nails on a chalkboard. He flinched and tried to wriggle free of his bindings. "Put me down!"

Fizdis saw the Fiend Kraken holding Tristan and gasped. "Uraby, help him!" she cried. Uraby leapt at the command.

"Oh no you don't!" A surprise blast of water knocked Uraby back onto the deck with a 'WHUMP.' Uraby shook off the blast and scowled, seeing that the attack had come from the Aqua Madoor now standing beside the crewman. "We'll have no cutting in on another's battle!"

"GAH!" Tristan cried out as the Fiend Kraken began tossing him about mercilessly. Dizzy and steadily being crushed by the beast's constricting arms, he finally managed to call for his monster. "Gazelle! Get me out of here will you!" The lion-like monster appeared with a resounding roar. Dusky fur and thick dark mane seeping through with water, it turned flashing yellow eyes onto the squid angrily. Gazelle leapt forward, and planted teeth sharper than the driving rain into the white flesh of his foe, bringing up anthropomorphic paws to hold onto the threshing appendage. With a rattling screech the Fiend Kraken relinquished Tristan. Once his master had cleared the area and was safe from harm Blackland Fire Dragon unleashed a powerful wave of fire. The smell of burning flesh spread with the storm's winds. Enough calamari was made to feed an army. (3)

While Tristan's monsters were preoccupied, the crewman gave the Aqua Madoor its orders. "You know what to do! Drown them!" Aqua Madoor raised his palm as water began bubbling up in it, spilling over onto the deck. Like serpents the water traced a path along the deck to where Tristan stood with his two monsters, and to where Uraby stood a few feet away. Peeling off the deck the ribbons of water fattened into ropes, then widened into chains, all the while encircling the airspace around their targets. The three intended monsters saw this and swiped with tail and claw to break the water's chain, yet the water proved to be too resilient and their attacks deflected harmlessly. Once the water chains had outlined a sphere around each monster, the space in between filled in, creating an orb of water. Again the monsters thrashed but could not break the liquid's barrier.

"Uraby!" Fizdis cried helplessly. She tried to push her hand through to him, and gasped when the water felt solid beneath her touch. "_Uraby!_" Her small fists banged desperately against the barrier. Within its distorted depths she could see the strained look on Uraby's face as he ran out of air. Gazelle scratched frantically while Blackland Fire Dragon attempted to use its fire, which resulted in taking on a mouthful of water.

"Your monsters cannot get free," in a sinister voice, looking almost fondly at Gazelle whom had already lessened in his struggles. "Without air they will drown." Orange filaments of light began their slow dance upon Gazelle's jewel. A final burst of bubbles made their fleeting escape as Gazelle opened his fanged jaws in a silent roar. After that he was motionless, floating lifelessly in the orb before being engulfed by the light from his gem. Once he was returned to it the heavy pendant drifted to the bottom solemnly. Several seconds more sent Uraby and Blackland Fire Dragon to the same fate.

"And now, for you two…"

* * *

"Photon Stampede!" Shimon declared. He held on tightly as his dragon let loose a barrage of burning spheres. Two of them missed but the third hit one of the Roaring Ocean Snakes that laid in wait around the ship. Every so often he and Ryou would exchange blows with the Imperial monsters, but the real battle was being held between Yugi and Secmayton. Neither the resistance members nor the monsters drifting in the sea dared intrude upon their fight. 

Yugi held the advantage, but only barely. He had landed more hits on Secmayton's monster. They had not been at full strength, for even holy fire was weakened by the sheer amounts of water abound. Atop Seiyaryu he was faster, and more mobile. Sea King Dragon was forced to stay in one spot on the surface because of his passenger while Seiyaryu could bank and stall to dodge attacks. Sharp turns could not be as readily performed because Seiyaryu's soaked feathers didn't provide for enough control. Still the rose-colored dragon could maneuver just enough to avoid taking the onslaught of water blasts full-force.

"Hit him again, Seiyaryu! Shining Plasma!" Seiyaryu fired another shot of holy flames heading straight for Sea King Dragon. This time wary of the attack, the marine monster reared itself backward, forearms coming out of the water entirely. Seiyaryu's attack plunged into the ocean and fizzled out. Sea King Dragon splashed back into the water and launched its counterattack of water. The attack was aimed high so Seiyaryu chose to dive beneath it; however, when it did so it found itself in Sea King Dragon's vicinity. A thick, powerful tail collided with the airborne dragon's side. Seiyaryu wheezed; Yugi was knocked askew and had to grip his dragon around the neck to keep from falling into the sea. He prayed he wasn't choking his monster with the action. He wished he had his reins but they were still somewhere on deck, maybe even washed overboard by now.

Before either Seiyaryu or Yugi could recover, Sea King Dragon whipped his tail around again for another strike. This one hit hard as the first, sending both the resistance battlers careening to the right. A moment too late Yugi realized that Sea King Dragon's tail was still in contact with them. It pinned Seiyaryu's wing, impeding upon its flight, and was driving them straight for the place of their defeat.

_KA-PLOOSH!_ Dark water spouted great waves as Secmayton's monster sent them both into the ocean.

"Lord Yugi!" Shimon cried. Kaiser Dragon roared as Shimon dug in his heels, steering the golden serpent above where the two had fallen beneath the waves, searching for signs of the resistance leader and his dragon...

* * *

Serpents of water rose like cobras with flaring hoods before Tristan and Fizdis. Without their monsters, they had nothing to shield themselves with. 

"I hope you can hold your breath," said the crewman as the snakes lashed forward to make use of their constricting coils. "Although it would be less painful if you just swallowed it outright."

"Crap!" Tristan said as the sphere began to from around him. Fizdis started to cry, her tears lost to the rain.

"Yugi...!"

* * *

The dark water was suffocating. Though he wasn't truly that deep, Yugi felt like the entire ocean was pressing in on him. He opened his eyes and instantly felt the burn of the salty water. Even in the few seconds he kept them open to try and see something, nothing was visible but blackness. Vaguely he registered which way was up and began pushing up through the heavy water. Along the way he brushed against something roughly his size and scaled. Yugi recognized it to be the fallen Seiyaryu, unable to fight the water due to exhaustion and injury. Starting to feel the burning of lack of air, Yugi quickly hooked his arm beneath Seiyaryu's neck. With painstaking effort he dragged the weight of two bodies to the surface. 

PWOOSH! He broke the surface and drew in great breaths of air. He felt his lungs take on a large amount of seawater but at the moment he didn't care: he pulled Seiyaryu's head above the waves with a groan of effort. The dragon sputtered almost like it was choking, but soon it regained its breath. Seiyaryu was battered but not quite out for the count. Yugi turned his attention away from the two of them just in time to witness Secmayton's decree.

"Attack, Spike Seadra! Lightning Strike!" His Sea King Dragon weakened, Secmayton was commanding another of the Imperial beasts, yet rather than aiming for Yugi the naval commander presumed him drowned and was turning the attack on the two flies circling above him. Waves licked around him as Yugi watched the scene, but between the salt and blackness he could see none of it. A lone sound reached his ears.

"SQUAWK!" _THUD._ Secmayton had managed to hit Parrot Dragon, sending her and Ryou to crash on the ship's deck. From the sound of the impact they probably weren't going to get up again.

"No! Ryou!" Yugi hollered desperately over the churning waves. His voice seemed small compared to their unified roar. Secmayton, though, managed to hear it, and turned to face him as he tread water beside his dragon.

"_Still_ alive? You've got quite the endurance, child; however, your friends can't seem to match it… Two of them are drowning, and the third may already be dead." His words sailed upon the ice winds.

Yugi paled. His face filled with both anger and fear at the same time. "_No!_"

"How about I treat you to a death you can share with all of your comrades!" Secmayton spread his arms out wide, open to the sky. "You can all drown together in the ultimate wrath of the Sea! My dragon!" Sea King Dragon's entire form seemed to rumble with a sudden wave of energy. "Act upon your name: as King of the Sea, unleash its fury!" The ocean was bending, not just around the ship or the dragon but the whole ocean, stretching to the four horizons. Bending, twisting, warping water, pulling itself into a surge…

"_TIDAL WAVE!_"

The ocean heaved.

It let out all its breath in a single instant, sent it all rushing out to converge upon itself. Yugi literally felt himself fall several feet as the water beneath him drained away to join the uprising; a towering wall of water, taller than the sky itself, built itself to consume three of the horizons, and aimed itself at the fourth, where a helpless ship bobbed with all the strength of a fragile bubble. After several teeming seconds of growing, shifting, the water blasted the tone of its victory before curling down around the bubble. Speed lost definition as it came upon them.

Yugi didn't even have time to react. One instant he was floating atop the water, another he was beneath twenty feet of it, another he was being thrown head over heels in the gushing current. Seiyaryu had long since left his side in the force of the water. His awareness came in flashes; it seemed to him that there were huge gaps between when first he was upside down and then again. Sometime in the middle of it a rogue wooden plank tore its splintery edges into his lower left leg for the salt water to ravage upon. The stray piece of wood told Yugi that the ship had been rent and his friends were caught up in this as well. The thought did not last long in his head or even penetrate his consciousness as deeply as it should have, for the water and constant whirling were already causing him to black out. The last of the air in his lungs was on the brink of depletion.

Something touched him, though not in a way that meant it had been thrown upon him by the waves. This thing was unharmed by the tumbling water and sailed through it as though it were calm as a pond. Yugi could not open his eyes to see the entity nor identify it by touch alone. All he knew was that it was holding on to him, guiding him safely through the water and keeping him from harm's way. Even as the tidal wave began its denouement Yugi lost consciousness in the creature's hold.

* * *

A voice came forth within the blackness: 

"_Yugi! Yugi, come on! Wake up!_"

Yugi's heart flickered at this. He knew this voice…

"_Don't give out on us, man! Don't die!_"

…_Tristan_…?

"_Please, Yugi!_"

_Ryou_…?

The voices continued their plea. Distantly Yugi felt a warm, hard form nudge his shoulder, almost like a beak…

_Seiyaryu_…

Suddenly everything flew back to him. His eyes shot open and he jerked himself upright with a gasp of air, yet he immediately wished he hadn't as the intake of air made him aware of how much water was in his lungs. A fit of ragged coughs overtook him and he fell back onto the ground.

Those who had called to him now leaned over his choking form. "Yugi! You're alive!" Yugi was too busy coughing to notice who was speaking but he wished they would shut up for a minute. Right now he wasn't sure if coughing up a lung could be classified as "alive." After a few minutes he managed to get all the water out and calm his convulsing lungs. Panting and still laying on the ground, Yugi registered that he was on a sandy beach.

He gripped the sand weakly with his hand. "_Land…?_"

"Yeah," replied Tristan, putting his hand on Yugi's shoulder comfortingly. "Who'da believed it, eh? How the hell could anyone survive that?"

Yugi let his eyes drift a bit. Everything was slightly blurry, but he wasn't sure if it was the fog or if he had hit his head on something to mess with his vision. He realized the coughing attack had drained him and he felt suddenly tired. "Why do I feel so weak…?"

Tristan's grip on his shoulder tightened a bit. "You got hit the worst by that wave, seeing as how you were already in the water when it hit. Something cut your leg too, I guess while you were underwater. That probably explains why you're so exhausted. 'A combination of near-drowning and blood loss,' I think Mako said. He's gone off to find something to bandage you with, in fact."

Yugi was slightly confused in his bleariness. "Mako…?"

The sound of footsteps crunching through the sand approached them. Tristan and Ryou looked up while Yugi stayed where he was, afraid that moving would make his head spin even more. "Hey, hey, hey!" the voice of the approaching person called. Yugi felt the sand squish as the person sat down beside him. The person peered down at Yugi with a grin that defied the previous mood of the area. "Glad to see that you've woken up finally. And just how am I supposed to make a grand entrance when you finish off the enemy before I can join in?"

Now that he was close, Yugi could squint up at the figure and see his face. "Mako? You're here too?"

"Yep!" he said, laughing and leaning back to look at the sky. "I can't seem to get out!" Turning back to Yugi his expression grew softer. "I heard you were fighting, so I thought I'd lend you a hand. Now though, I'd say you'd rather me lend you a bandage!" he said with a laugh, shifting to look at Yugi's injured leg.

"How bad is it?" asked Yugi. He had not yet seen the damage, only felt the distant throbs of pain emanating from it.

"Not too bad: it's not very deep, just long. It should heal fairly quickly. Here." Mako pulled out a long loop of dried seaweed and began binding it tightly to Yugi's leg. He winced, and yet the pressure it put on the wound helped to relieve it.

"Are you sure using seaweed is a good idea?" asked Ryou nervously.

Mako nodded. "Yup! Not only is it very strong, even while it's dry, the minerals it contains will help it heal more quickly." (4)

A moment of silence passed after that. Yugi was in thought until he voiced the question, "Where are Fizdis and Shimon?"

"A little ways down the shore. Aqua Dragon took them to a different spot on the beach than my other monsters."

"Huh?"

"When you guys were about to get hit by the tidal wave, I was nearby, having been headed for Vaxi Island myself. I could tell by the way the sea roared that a battle was going on, and thinking that it was you I headed there with my water monsters. Then Secmayton ordered the wave and I sent my monsters in to help. They carried you all from the wave to the shore. Kairyu-shin had you and your dragon, Yugi. When he brought you to the surface you were already unconscious. I was afraid you wouldn't make it."

"Well, I did." Yugi sat up and closed his eyes, waiting for his head to stop spinning.

Tristan gave him a worried look. "Hey man, you should still be lying down. You still look out of it."

Yugi opened his eyes again. He managed to give Tristan the look of daring that came upon his face whenever a challenge presented itself to him. "I'll live, Tristan. Don't worry about me." His countenance hardened as he looked to Mako. "And what of Secmayton?"

Mako shook his head. "Poor fool. He thought himself to be safe from the wave because his dragon could direct it away from him. That would have been true, if the Sea King Dragon hadn't taken so many hits in battle. It was too exhausted to control the wave, a wonder it managed to create the thing even. The oceans claimed another soul with that wave."

"Yugi!" The four of them turned away from the grim story to see Fizdis running up the beach waving her arm over her head. "Tristan! Ryou! You guys are all right!"

"Fizdis!" exclaimed Ryou. He waited until she had reached them before continuing. "I'm glad you're safe as well. Where's Shimon?"

"He's coming," she answered as she caught her breath. Her answer hinted that the older man hadn't wanted to go running along the beach like a kid.

Mako looked around at all of them. "Wow, this certainly is a tight group you have here. You're lucky to have your friends with you."

"Why don't you come with us, Mako?" inquired Yugi. "We can sure use your help in the resistance."

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "It's an honor to be asked to stay with you… but I believe I'll have to decline. My monsters aren't of much use to you away from the sea anyway."

"Hey, now–" Tristan began, but Mako stopped him.

"I'll still be of service to you in any way I can. In fact, your presence here denotes that you've liberated Vaxi Island, haven't you?" There was a unified nod around the group. "Well then, if you move on from here, what's to stop the Imperial forces from taking it back when you're not looking? Yugi, let me stay here and patrol these waters, be a guard of sorts: that way the Empire won't just take back the island without a fight!"

Yugi looked at him sternly for a moment. A small smile broke on his face. "You know, you don't need my permission to do anything. If you choose to stay here, then so be it. I'll rest more easily knowing you've got our back."

Mako grinned. "That's the spirit!" He stood and gave a loud whistle to the ocean. A few seconds later Kairyu-shin surfaced, and Mako ran out into the waves to his monster. He scrambled aboard, but not before turning back to Yugi.

"You're getting quite famous in this world, Yugi. I'm sure that Joey and the others have already heard the rumors and are on their way here now." He winked. "Look me up if you need a hand from the sea!" With that Kairyu-shin pulled out to sea, vanishing soon within the mists.

* * *

Notes: 

(One) – "You have no chance to survive make your time." _That's_ what he should have said.

(Two) – Very punny, Tristan.

(Three) – I couldn't resist the calamari reference; I was hungry, I like calamari, and I don't like Fiend Kraken. What can I say?

(Four) – Made all that up. Don't try it at home.

SC: There you are. Several weeks late, and still a lame ending. Slay me as you will. At least the fight scene was better… I think. (cough) However, I can tell you with utmost certainty that the next chapter will be out in two, _maybe_ three weeks. We're at the "Badlands" chapter guys! I actually have ideas now!

Sorry for those of you who were eagerly awaiting Mako's joint with the resistance, but... he doesn't! Ah ha HA! The reason why is thus: I never use him in the game, so when I'm taking notes I don't write stuff with him in it, which means no plot for Mako. I don't really like him anyway. Sorry to all the Mako fans out there.

Review responses have been now banned from stories. However, I will put some responses on my profile page: thank you's and question answers for now, but if later I get lots of reviewers (which I hope for… please review…) then I'll only post responses for specific questions.

Thanks for reading, and please review!


	10. Badlands

SC: (is too busy dancing to notice the chapter has started) Yes! I can actually unleash the creative license now! Ideas that aren't derived from the game plot! WHOO!

(sees Readers staring at her and stops dancing) Oh. Heh heh. Sorry about that. I'm just happy because this chapter starts to break away from the strict adherence to the game plot, and because I have ideas. Yes. Onward.

**Badlands**

_Having defeated Secmayton, Yugi has secured a solid foothold on the mainland and is liberating surrounding areas. But the Imperial forces on the mainland are tough, and the resistance can't seem to make much headway. Seeking to limit damage to his forces, Yugi decides to make a break for the "Beasty Badlands" in central Rondeval and devises a plan that will allow him to attack the enemy from behind. However, the "Beasty Badlands" are a desolate area devoid of human life and controlled by fiendish beasts…_

Night had not yet truly fallen, and yet a premature darkness engulfed them all as the high mountains surrounding them seized the sun behind their claw-like peaks. The earth was a charred and barren wasteland, seemingly reduced to its current state by aeons of battle. Deep cracks traced the scars of liquid shadow around them. There was absolutely no movement, save that of the small band of people and monsters traveling slowly across the shadows' land.

"Look at this place…" Yugi half-whispered over the quiet flapping of Seiyaryu's wings. There was no sign of life anywhere, yet an invisible presence had settled in his chest between his shoulders, as though something in the very air was watching their every movement. He was a little ruffled by the feeling but didn't voice it to the others.

"Welcome to the 'Beasty Badlands,'" answered Shimon simply. His voice carried a waver of awe mixed with careful reservation. "Not even the Empire has sought to control this area. However, if we can secure a route through here, it will allow us to hit the Imperial forces in their weak spot.

"We must be extremely careful," he warned, his voice turning suddenly dark. "There are roving bandits and monsters that will attack anyone that tries to pass. There are magical forces here too, known to affect those that wander too deeply into their domain. Furthermore, we cannot expect to find much in the way of supplies. We must not prolong our stay here." Shimon looked to Yugi warily. "Be ready for anything, Lord Yugi."

They continued their travels across wasteland. With every minute the sun grew closer to disappearing from the sky, the weight of the darkness on their shoulders became more cumbersome. The first of the evening stars were coming out, though their flickering light seemed distant here, as though they were reluctant to share their heavenly glow with the tainted earth below. Shimon had warned them previously that traveling at night was extremely dangerous. It was unanimously decided that they would find a safe spot to spend the night. They weren't sure where they could find such a place until they came across the ruins of a wooden fort, seemingly built atop the remains of a much older stone structure.

"What happened here?" asked Tristan as he cautiously stepped over some fallen wooden planks. Debris cluttered the area from the years of abandonment.

Shimon shrugged. "I am not entirely sure – no one is – but it is said that decades ago a team of researchers came to investigate the remains of the stone temple that used to stand here. They came in search of the legendary treasure it was said to contain. Whatever happened, nothing remains of their efforts but this dilapidated fort."

"That's not exactly the best thing to hear before spending the night in the place," said Ryou with a shiver. "It's bad enough that it's so dark out here…"

"Hey now!" Tristan slapped his hand down on Ryou's shoulder, who gave a terrified yelp at the action. "Don't tell me you're afraid of the dark!"

"N-No!" he spluttered. "I-I just…"

"I think we can all agree that it's going to be a spooky sleepover," said Yugi, scanning the area with his eyes. "As long as we stay together, we should all be fine."

"Yes," agreed Shimon. "Look there – we can use the part where the roof is still intact."

"I'll bring some of these pieces of wood in, so we can have a fire!" Fizdis suggested. The others voiced agreement to the plan; glad that tonight wouldn't have to be as cold as ones prior. Night reached the peak of its solidification as the five of them gathered beneath the last of the rotting roof and settled in.

* * *

The night was deathly silent. There were no crickets to chirp their soothing melodies, nor were there trees to rustle their leaves in the wind. Stone gray clouds crept across a moonless sky. The fire they had lit had long since gone out, and steely tendrils of cold were starting to encroach upon their haven once again.

Midway through the night, a pair of violet eyes opened restlessly. Yugi growled quietly; he simply could not get over the feeling that there was another presence among them. He knew it was his imagination, yet still the discomfort wouldn't leave him. Trying and failing to get back to sleep, Yugi finally gave up and stood, aiming to tire himself out by exploring some of the stone ruins just outside. He quietly stepped over his sleeping comrades and into the curling night air.

He didn't notice that Ryou was already gone.

* * *

The night was harsher here, out in the open beyond the relative safety of the researcher base. The biting winds that whipped around Ryou's hair tasted more of darkness than of air. The silver-haired youth did not bother to ride on his dragon; instead he walked at an easy pace devoid of fear. He appeared to know exactly where he was going, for never once did he defer from his straight path. His deep eyes bore no highlight.

After a time his efforts were rewarded, for nearing him was an outcropping of stone thrust up from the endless flat abyss surrounding him. The stones were so arranged and carved that the structure could have stood as a marker, perhaps a shrine. Ryou knew otherwise, that its purpose was in fact to act as warning. He neared, and an aura of shadows wafted from the stones. Undaunted, he stepped closer and stopped before it with unwavering eyes.

The shadows drifted higher, twisting into an amorphous mass. A voice of rumbling ebony came from within: "_You must be living on the edge to violate this hallowed ground._"

Ryou was unfazed by this. "Hallowed only to those who do not belong to it."

At once the shadows swirled and coiled around him, never touching his pale skin but keeping a tight boundary around him. "_You claim association with the darkness? Not just anyone may make that claim._"

"You are right – I don't claim association. I claim control."

"_Even rasher._" The shadows pulled away and returned to their tight clump. Non-existent eyes bore into him. "_A rarity, that someone would declare himself a master of Shadows. Even rarer that it come from a pitiful mortal soul such as yours._" All at once the amassed shadows expanded into the towering silhouette of a beast. Warped darkness filled its essence as it brandished fiercely taloned paws. Pinpricks of yellow glared beneath curved devil's horns. "_Let's see if you have the power to back up such foolish behavior._" Pitch-dark wings flared wide. "_Attack when you're ready._"

Ryou smirked and crossed his arms. "Au contraire, my servant-to-be: I insist you take the first strike."

The demon of shadows bellowed a laugh. "_Though the color of your soul proves you one well-attuned to magic, you cannot possibly have a means to defend yourself. Though, I cannot complain when an arrogant fool invites Death's claws._" Black turned blacker as the demon abruptly leapt forward, claws aiming to plunge into Ryou's heart.

A touch of gold shone from beneath Ryou's folded arms. Tainted ebony hardened his chocolate eyes to amber. Locks of silver drifted upward on the magic's current. The demon of shadows never came close to Ryou, as flowing magic released roaring waves upon him. Its claws of midnight melted into thin air beneath his aura. The demon's form dissolved again to wispy shadows that recoiled around the stone structure.

There was a moment of pause as the shadows stared directly at him. "_This is the first time in several millennia that I have ever lost. Your power makes you worthy to command me._" The shadows crackled with energy as the ebony voice declared openly: " _I hereby swear before all that is dark and bestial to serve you as your faithful servant._"

The shadows condensed, pressing in upon themselves until they formed a sphere that could fit in the palm of one's hand. Then the darkness dissipated, and a dark gray gemstone fell to the ground. Effortlessly Ryou moved forward to collect his spoils.

"I shall hold you to your oath," he whispered like the shadows themselves. "I may have use for you in the future…"

* * *

Yugi paced quietly through the roofless stone corridors. Though originally an effort to help himself sleep, he found he was now wide-awake and intrigued by the ruins' inviting mystery. The complex was of medium size, approximately that of a small church. He could see why many people speculated its religious purpose in times past: scores of runes adorned the time-weary stones, telling some forgotten ritual or spell. However, what remained was not in surplus. The low walls of the structure were essentially the only things still standing. It seemed the researchers had picked over the entire place and left nothing. Though, as he moved about the ordered stones, Yugi couldn't help but notice the gentle eddies of the air felt like the stirrings of a sleeping beast.

He was on his third lap around the complex, still hopeful that maybe this time around something would stand out as different, when his foot caught on a depressed stone and made him stumble. He turned back to look at the spot with annoyance, yet it faded away as he took a closer look at the culprit. That stone was the only one out of the entire floor of the building that sank into the ground like that (he knew, for most of his exploration had consisted of studying runes near the floor). That a single stone should stand out from the rest intrigued him. He looked at the neighboring stones and found an even line of dirt traced around on all four sides. The stone had not always been submerged, and had once been level with its fellows.

Giving a quick glance back towards the wooden area where his comrades still slept, Yugi knelt down to get a closer look at the suspected stone. On closer examination he saw something that had not been visible before. On the side of each stone bordering the sunken one, a single rune was etched in the lightest possible manner. In fact, when he moved his head to see closer and blocked out the light from the stars, they disappeared completely from view, and he had to lean in another direction to persuade them to return. Each of the four symbols bore the same image, that of a jagged line. Yugi was unsure of its meaning, but the fact that he had found something sparked in him excitement. He leaned even closer, and as he did he rested his hand on the submerged stone.

The stone gave a groan and burrowed deeper into the earth. Yugi let out a gasp as the stone moved beneath his hand, and instantly he drew it back. A long moment of silence passed as Yugi contemplated his actions. Then, without any hesitation, he swiftly pressed his weight down on the sunken stone. Its shifting made a scraping sound before something beneath it gave a loud click. Yugi was startled by the noise but didn't have time to ponder it as something in the center of the ruins shifted.

From several yards away a heavy thud sounded. Yugi stood up and saw that a portion of the floor had disappeared. Tentatively stepping over the low walls, he saw that it had not simply disappeared but instead fallen partway down, like a trapdoor. A dark opening breathed its cold, ancient breath upon him as he peered down into it. The fallen floor was slanted like a ramp. Without any thought of the consequences Yugi descended into the dark stone depths.

Inside it was frigid, for the sun's rays had never touched it in the thousand years the structure stood. There was only the tiniest amount of light, and yet somehow Yugi knew that the walls here were coated with runes. He could feel a magic in the air that stifled him like a thick humidity. Blindly and yet knowing exactly where he was going, Yugi moved through the dark room, away from the faint light near the ramp and into its gaping center. Then, in the darkness, there came a glimmer.

There was a spire of stone, that much he saw immediately: its three prongs swept up from the floor with deadly grace. Wary eyes then flicked to the thing perched atop it, wedged delicately between the spire's claws. At first glance he thought it to be a marvelous jewel. He paced slowly closer; the movement of air above the chamber's opening made an urgent whispering, though it could have been the noise of the runes along the walls hissing to each other of the foreigner that had entered their domain. Now he stood directly in front of it, enough to examine the object.

What he had thought at first to be a jewel was not truly such, though his estimate had not been far off. It was an orb forged of deep crimson glass. The glass was translucent and he could see a thin chain affixed to the bottom. He wondered if this was the treasure that the guild of researchers had sought long ago. Whoever had put it here had done a good job of hiding it from those who would aim to take it. The runes' whispering intensified, and the magic in the air pressed harder on his chest. Suddenly Yugi was compelled to touch the mysterious sphere. He reached out, fingers gently tracing its edge. The cold glass pulled him into an ensorcelling lull. For a moment he was content with feeling its presence, that is, until it burst into flame.

The sudden bright light piercing the dark room made Yugi jerk his hand back and take several steps away from the orb. Flames burned inside the ruby glass without fuel or touching the sides of the sphere. (1) Flickering crimson light reflected in Yugi's widened eyes. As he watched the dance of the flames they dimmed, turning to smolders before dying out and leaving the orb as empty as it had been. Yugi waited for several seconds to make sure it didn't ignite again. When he judged it safe to approach he stepped back up beside the orb and its spire. Cautiously he touched the orb again. The flames returned, this time much more quickly; Yugi reflexively recalled his hand but paused a moment later. He had not felt any heat from the contact. Before the flames could die again, Yugi replanted his fingers against the smooth surface. He saw the fire burning within the sphere but did not feel any heat. The glass remained cold like ice. He stood for a long moment with his hand resting on the mysterious orb.

The wind stirred and Yugi broke from his thoughts. He looked critically down at the sphere. He reasoned with himself that the thing had been here for centuries… and so no one would miss it if he were to remove it. Yugi wasn't sure what it was, but something about the glass orb seemed to him to be important. It had a definite purpose that was only being wasted by being stuck down here. The clutch of the stone spire was tight, but Yugi thought the orb still looked as though it could be removed. Bringing his left hand up to grip the glass Yugi dug his feet into the ground and pulled. The orb did not come free but Yugi felt it shift. All around him the runes hissed their sounds of excitement. Spurred on by their encouragement Yugi pulled harder. Glass ground against stone; slowly it was moving out of its prison…

After several swirled and hissing seconds passed Yugi uttered a grunt of effort and the orb pulled free. He stumbled backward from the force of his pulling. There was a constricting moment as the runes let out a low, long, final whisper like a sigh of relief. Yugi blinked and looked down at the crimson orb in his hands. It still burned, not as brightly as before but still enough to give off light. A spidery chain fell between his fingers. Yugi stared at it, seemingly in deep thought, and then he lifted it by its chain and draped it around his neck. The light of its silent flames guided him back to the surface.

* * *

Day was near, its coming easily recognized by the retreat of the shadows to their underground sanctum. Ryou stood in the resistance's wooden shelter, above where Yugi had been resting prior. Deep eyes narrowed, but before a thought could cross his mind the one missing returned.

"Ryou?" asked Yugi. "What are you doing up so early?"

A smile broke on his face. Ryou rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Oh, you know. I'm just one for getting up early. And what about you, Yugi? Any particular reason why you're up?"

"I couldn't sleep. I decided to walk around the ruins for awhile," he answered. He was going to continue with his story when a loud snore interrupted from beneath him. Both Yugi and Ryou looked down at a half-asleep Tristan, eyes barely open.

"What's all the noise up there?" he slurred blearily. "Keep it down. I'm tired." Apparently, Tristan had a knack for talking loudly even while exhausted, for the sound of his voice aroused Fizdis from her slumber.

"Huh? What's going on?" she asked, her voice light like the morning mist.

Ryou looked back up at Yugi. "I guess we've woken the cavalry, eh?"

"I guess," Yugi said with a grin. Turning back to Tristan he said in a stronger voice. "Well now, I'm sorry if our conversation woke you up, but if you're awake you might as well get up for the day." He laughed at Tristan's frustrated groan.

"Stop tricking me like that," he mumbled.

"Well then, how would you like me to trick you?"

"Yugi!"

Fizdis sat up and rubbed at her eyes. "Is it morning already?" Yugi nodded and gave her a warm smile. "It feels like we just went to sleep…"

"Yugi," Ryou interrupted suddenly. "What's that around your neck?" The unnatural harshness of his voice drew Fizdis's attention to the new acquisition Yugi wore, and even Tristan now sat up to glimpse it. Yugi felt a pang of embarrassment from their staring eyes before answering.

"This…" he began, grasping it almost fondly, "…I found this in the ruins this morning."

"Uh, Yugi… You _are_ aware that thing is on fire, aren't you?" Tristan asked with a raised eyebrow.

Yugi let the orb fall back against his chest. "It's not hot."

"Can I see it?"

"Uh…" Something in the back of his head discouraged the idea, but Yugi stamped it out. "Sure, I guess. Just be careful with it." He pulled it off and passed it to Tristan's outstretched hands. He caught the thing eagerly and moved to take a closer look at it. As soon as the orb touched his palms, however, the brilliant flames lighting it from within sputtered and died. Tristan's face fell from excited to worried.

"Uh-oh…" He held the orb up to his face. "I didn't mean to do that…"

"Tristan, you broke it!" cried Fizdis.

Tristan countered, "I did not!"

"Tristan, let me see," said Ryou gently. Tristan passed it to him irritably and crossed his arms. Ryou held it in his pale fingers and studied its entirety, yet could not find a flaw that Tristan had induced. "I guess it was just by chance…" he murmured. He held it out for Yugi to reclaim. Red glass touched against its liberator's palm, and the flames sprang back to honor the hand that had freed it. Everyone blinked at the orb burning in Yugi's hand. They tried their test again: in Ryou's hand the fires died, in Yugi's they arose again as a phoenix is reborn in holy flames.

By now Tristan was thoroughly confused. "Yugi, how are you _doing_ that?"

"I'm not doing anything!" Yugi said, nonplussed. "…Am I?"

"Yugi, you said you found that thing in the ruins, yes?" asked Ryou. Yugi nodded. "Where?" Yugi hesitated a bit before telling them of how he had come across it. After hearing the tale Ryou shook his head. "That's not good – the fact that it's burning alone means that it's magical, and if it was hidden it might be dangerous."

"Ryou's right," said Tristan. "You should just put that thing back where it came from."

"No!" he cried, surprising everyone, including himself. A moment of pause followed in which Yugi swallowed. "I mean… Just trust me on this. I don't know much about it, true, but I know that it's special. Don't ask me how." As he spoke, he looked down at the innocent flames. "It's important, and for that I'm going to hang onto it." The finality in his tone of voice showed he wasn't going to be persuaded otherwise.

"…All right, Yugi," said Tristan with a sigh. "You win. Now, we might as well get Shimon up and head out, eh? That guy's a heavier sleeper than I am sometimes, and that's saying something."

A few hours later found them traveling once again across the wasteland. The difference night and day made on the place was startling: with darkness it had been a chilling realm of ice, and with the sun blazing in the sky it was a blistering desert. Heat radiated from the parched earth beneath them. After a time the resistance members returned their monsters to their gems for a break and continued walking on foot.

"It's scorching out here!" complained Tristan loudly. "I think I'm going to melt!"

"…Says ye who aren't wearing leather," Yugi grumbled darkly. Tristan grinned sheepishly, having forgotten that his clothes were thinner than Yugi's.

"I can certainly see why the Empire doesn't bother with this place," commented Ryou. He didn't seem quite as bothered by the heat, as his clothes were lighter and colored white. Fizdis and Shimon enjoyed the same slight reprieve. The three of them continued making light conversation amongst them. Tristan seemed too bothered by the heat to join in. Yugi, however, was preoccupied by something different.

His sensation of an extra presence in the air had grown stronger. He didn't know what it was, but he knew that it was definitely _something_ and not just his imagination anymore. He could feel it swirling around him like a breath of spectral wind. Every so often it would touch him, creating a feeling that someone's hand was on his shoulder. The first few times this happened Yugi jumped a bit or brushed it off, yet gradually he came to accept its presence. The feeling hadn't done anything bad to him; in fact, it felt to Yugi as though it was guiding him safely through the desolate land. No part of him ever considered the need to fear the presence.

They traveled through the day, stopping only at noon and at intervals to rest. Late afternoon befell them and the intense heat finally began its decline. The group was once again on foot while their monsters rested. Currently they were passing beneath the shade of a rocky hill, one of the only upsets in the flat land. They kept going without stopping to take a break. After they had cleared the shade, they stopped suddenly as a voice called out to them.

"And just where do you think you're going? How dare you try to pass me without so much as a greeting!" The five of them turned to see a figure standing in the shade of the hill. It appeared to be a person, wearing dark crimson clothes. A silver mask hid its entire face from view. It also carried a cane, which it leaned jauntily upon. It had not been there as the five of them had passed.

"Wha'…? You weren't there a minute ago!" Tristan exclaimed.

The figure raised his finger and waved it, clicking his tongue in disapproval. "That's no excuse." It took its weight off the cane and stepped forward into the sunlight. Once there Yugi's eyes widened.

"That's no person… That's a duel monster! The Illusory Gentleman!" he observed. Said monster gave a grand bow at the mention of his name.

"Very good. Although, just because you can identify me doesn't erase your deed. Such impolite behavior must not go unpunished." Suddenly there were two more monsters visible behind him. One was a tiny magenta-colored imp that carried a huge scythe; the other was a towering crimson dragon-like fiend: a Neck Hunter and an Archfiend of Gilfer. (2) "My friends don't have the ability to speak to humans like I do, so allow me to do their talking for them. They're not pleased that you didn't honor their presence as they passed. Now they're eager to take their anger out on you." The Neck Hunter gave a scraping laugh, clutching his giant scythe tighter.

"That's not fair though!" cried Fizdis defiantly. "You weren't there! We didn't see you! You could have said something to make us stop!"

"True, but we were looking for fun anyway; no one's come through here in so long," he said craftily. "Now, though, we have something to attack." He raised his staff and pointed it at them. Immediately Yugi moved to stand between the resistance members and their attacker. He was surprised to notice that Ryou had done the same.

The Neck Hunter and Gilfer had expressions of violent desire on their faces and were about to leap into an attack when the Illusory Gentleman held out his arm. "Hold on, my comrades. It seems we have something interesting standing in our way." He peered closer at Yugi, or rather, the jewel around his neck. He had put the gems of his monsters in his pocket to help cool them off, so all that remained was his own and the orb. The Illusory Gentleman seemed to study Yugi's jewel for a moment, then suddenly gave a start back. "My word! Friends, we cannot attack them! They have the soul of a magic user on their side! … Two souls!" he added after seeing Ryou a moment later.

Though he held his countenance stern, Yugi was a bit puzzled. _A magic user's soul? What does he mean?_

"We're awfully sorry for bothering you! We weren't aware that you were so strong of travelers." The Illusory Gentleman dropped his cane and knelt before the two of them, babbling on. "I'm sorry. I give up. I hereby submit myself to your care. I pledge my loyalty to you. I'll do anything you ask of me." By now Neck Hunter and Gilfer were nodding vigorously in agreement with what he said.

Yugi just stared blankly. "Ryou, do you have any idea what's going on here?"

"Not a one," he answered, shaking his head. "Although, it looks almost as though they're afraid of us."

Turning back to the three monsters Yugi saw that they were quivering slightly. Though he was still unsure of why they were afraid, he decided to not let an opportunity like this one go to waste. "All right then. I accept your offer. I have a job for you…"

"Yes, anything!"

"I want you and your partners to stay here in the Beasty Badlands. We're currently fighting against the Empire, and are using this as a way to sneak up on them. It's likely that the Empire will try to use this area in the future. I want the three of you to stay here and keep an eye on anything that happens. Should it be something concerning the enemy, I want to know about it immediately."

The Illusory Gentleman bowed again. "Yes! We shall take on this mission with honor, sir!" He stood and turned back to the fiends. "Come! There is work to be done!" Then they vanished in the shade once more.

"That was different," Ryou observed quietly. "Nice quick thinking on your part, Yugi."

"Thanks," Yugi replied absently. He then asked, "Ryou, you can't use magic, can you?"

"Not to my knowledge."

"Neither can I. So then why did he call us 'magic users?'"

"Yeah, why is that?" inquired Fizdis. She turned to Shimon, as he usually held all the answers. It seemed he knew something of this too, for he opened his mouth to speak.

"He made that assumption based on the color of Lord Yugi and Ryou's soul gems," he explained. "Though not an exact science, it often provides insight into the skills of a person, as well as their personality."

"'Soul gem?'" Yugi repeated.

"The jewel that represents a person's soul. Every marshal has one. Its color can vary based on a person's personality, talents, and even the strength of the soul itself." He turned to the two jewels on Yugi and Ryou. "You two both have purple soul gems. Purple has always been associated with the magics of the world. Those with purple soul gems are said to have great strength at sensing the inner workings of the magical forces around them. Some have even been known to cast spells of their own. Illusory Gentleman saw this and assumed you both could command magic." He looked to Yugi with keen eyes. "Though, your gem is so vibrant, Lord Yugi, that I'd wager you _could_ do that."

Fizdis looked to Yugi with awe. "Wow. That's so cool how you can know all that stuff just by looking at a person's gem!" Shimon, however, shook his head.

"Like I said, it is not a very precise ordeal. Purple is really the only color that can be pinned like that, as it's so rare. The fact that we have _two_ purples with us is astounding in its own right. The other colors are so common that they can mean almost anything."

"As interesting as all this is, I think we should get a move on," Tristan cut in. "We don't want to be stuck out in the middle of nowhere when night falls."

Yugi nodded, and called Seiyaryu from its jewel. His dragon gave a quiet purr as he climbed aboard. "Right," he said, gripping the reins. "Let's head out."

* * *

Night was slowly coming upon them again, as it had the previous day, but this time the group kept moving despite the growing shadows. They were getting close to the edge of the badlands, and so they kept traveling with the intent on getting as far as possible before sunset. The heat had long since gone and its relentless counterpart, cold, was moving to the fore with gusts of icy wind. Shimon was leading the group atop Kaiser Dragon, as he knew the way out.

Yugi flew on Seiyaryu just behind, but wasn't truly following him. He was more intent on following the presence he felt. Its touch never left him now, be it on his shoulder or within his very heart. He could feel it like a weight in his chest, a constant reminder that he was not alone. As though he had a compass Yugi knew that the focus of the feeling was somewhere in the land in front of them. He hoped that Shimon would not veer from his course. He wanted to find the feeling's source.

They kept going. The weight expanded like a balloon the farther they traveled. As it grew Yugi felt it begin to pulse, like a second heart within him. His entire attention was now focused inwardly on the presence. The second heart strengthened the rhythm of its pulses, till it moved with as much regularity as his original one. Warmth and comfort circulated silently within him. He submersed himself so deeply in the feeling that he wondered why no one else seemed to have noticed it. It was all around them, swirling on air, surrounding their very being! What fools they were to not see it!

_Magic_. The thought came to him as he scorned them for their naïveté. Could this feeling be not just a feeling, but a web of magic? _That_ certainly would have explained why no one else had picked up on it; but then Ryou should have sensed its presence, if Shimon's reading of his soul gem were true. Yugi let some of his attention return to the outside world. His eyes darted to Ryou, searching for anything out of the ordinary in his friend. He could find nothing. It appeared as though Ryou was ignorant of the entity that accompanied them.

Just then Shimon indicated that this was their turn, and Kaiser Dragon banked to the right. Seiyaryu followed without instruction from Yugi. As soon as they aligned with their new path, Yugi choked. The second heart began pulsating wildly, angrily. Its throbbing filled the back of his throat, and coupled with the strength of its pounding his breathing was constricted to erotic gasps. His entire body felt like he was being wrenched to the left, even though on the outside he didn't move at all. His eyes lost focus and he shut them quickly. He clutched at his heart, keeping his eyes clenched.

"Yugi?" Tristan directed Gazelle to move beside him. Seiyaryu flew lower to the ground so that Tristan could more easily speak to him. "Hey man, are you all right?" He had noticed that Yugi had been acting a bit strangely before, but now it had grown to a level that couldn't be written off as his imagination.

Past rigid teeth Yugi hissed, "_We can't go this way._"

"Why not?" By now the others were alerted to the situation and had turned away from their traveling. Seiyaryu fluttered gently to the ground to allow them to circle Yugi. "Why can't we go this way?" Tristan asked again, cautiously, as though he expected Yugi to lash out at him. "Shimon says this is the way out of here. What's wrong with it?"

BA-BUMP! BA-BUMP! The second heart pumped its magic into Yugi's veins. The extra energy filling him made him quiver, his very essence teeming with throbbing magic. He lurched forward on Seiyaryu's back, digging his nails into his chest. "_We can't go this way… It doesn't want us to…_"

Shimon's eyes were fearful. "Lord Yugi! What has come over you?"

Suddenly Yugi's eyes snapped open. Above his violet irises was a layer of shifting smoke, clouding his vision. Ryou saw this and let out a gasp. "There's magic!" he exclaimed. "All around him, inside him…!"

"WHAT?" hollered Tristan.

"It's true! I hadn't noticed it at all before… but now that I know something's wrong, it's plain as day!"

"Lord Yugi must have picked up on some magical energies!" Shimon cried.

Yugi's swirling eyes turned cold. "_I can't take it anymore!_" He gripped Seiyaryu's reins and jerked on them roughly, causing Seiyaryu to rear up. "_Fly!_" he commanded. Seiyaryu obeyed without hesitation and thrust its wings down. With a roar it took off through the skies.

"YUGI!" hollered everyone in unison. Ryou and Shimon dug in their heels and laid chase. Gazelle and Uraby followed suit from the ground. "What's gotten into him?" Tristan hollered up to the aerial Shimon.

"This magic must have great strength to cause this!" he yelled back. "Its energy is so great that it is triggering a reaction in Lord Yugi that clouds his judgment. He is unable to distinguish between his own thoughts and the ones the magic is sending him. He doesn't realize that by going to it he is acting on the magic's wishes!"

"We have to stop him!" Tristan urged Gazelle to run faster, yet for all his efforts he still trailed behind the swift dragon Yugi rode.

Kaiser Dragon beat its grand wings and managed to fly parallel to Yugi and Seiyaryu, allowing Shimon to call out: "Lord Yugi, you are not thinking rationally! Don't be persuaded by the magic's attempt to influence you!"

Yugi shot his ruthless gaze to him. "_Shining Plasma!_" he snarled. Brilliant flames formed in Seiyaryu's throat. Kaiser Dragon only barely had enough time to stall and dodge the fireball that was aimed for him. In those few seconds the rose-colored dragon pulled ahead of its pursuer.

A wave of fear came over Shimon. _This force is truly dominating him! There is no telling what he might do while in this state!_ To the others he said: "Be careful! Lord Yugi is out to seek the magic by whatever means!"

"Well then, maybe we should use any means too!" said Fizdis. Uraby growled fiercely and poured maximum strength into running. Slowly, he was catching up to Seiyaryu, and soon was just beneath. With a roar he put all force into coiling his leg muscles; like a catapult he launched himself up into the air. Seiyaryu was just low enough that he could reach forward and seize its foot in his jaws. The dragon roared with pain but gravity was already starting to affect them. Seiyaryu was being pulled out of the air by the massive dinosaur hanging onto its foot. Time seemed to slow down as they fell back to earth.

WHUMP! The impact sent up clouds of dust to roll in the air. Fizdis was okay, as Uraby had taken the fall for her, but she could not see Yugi through the dusty veils. Gazelle skidded to a halt just beside them. Tristan immediately jumped off and moved through the dust to where Seiyaryu lay on the ground. "Yugi!" He saw his query, dazed by the fall, and gripped his shoulders.

Yugi's eyes flew open at contact with Tristan. He jerked away with a fierce "_No!_"

Tristan managed to seize him again and hold him steady. "Yugi, come on! Snap out of it!" he pleaded.

"_Let me go! I have to find it!_" was the only answer he received, as Yugi began thrashing madly to break from his captivity. Tristan applied more force and pushed him back so that he was lying on the ground. He pinned Yugi's arms to his sides and had to practically sit on him to keep the rest of him still. "_Let me go!_" Yugi cried again, almost howled. "_It wants me!_"

"Yugi, think! This magic is evil! It has to be if it's affecting you like this!" he tried again, yet as he looked into Yugi's wild eyes he knew his words had no effect.

Parrot Dragon landed and Ryou leapt off quickly. "Let me see him, Tristan." He knelt beside his afflicted friend and watched his struggle with wary eyes. Tristan turned to him quizzically.

"Ryou, what're you doing?"

"I'm trying to get a gauge on the magic inside him," he answered. "I mean, I can already sense that it's there, but if I can see enough of it to figure out what type of magic it is or what's causing it, maybe we can help him."

Tristan blinked. "Wow Ryou, you sound like you know what you're doing."

"I don't, really. I mean, it just occurred to me today that I could even see this stuff; I hadn't known before Shimon mentioned it… Although, I've never really come across any magic until now, so I don't know. It's all just common sense." He peered closer at Yugi, leaning over him to get a better look into his eyes. Yugi paused in his struggles to glare back at him. The swirls in his eyes rumbled like storm clouds. After a moment Ryou saw something in those clouds that caused him to gasp and recoil a bit.

"What is it? What did you see?" asked Tristan anxiously.

Ryou shook his head. "This is… well, it can't be good."

"Why? What is it?"

"I saw the magic inside him…" he began slowly, turning to look at Tristan, "… but I can't distinguish between the magic and Yugi's own soul."

Fizdis had sidled up to them, and Shimon stood over the scene as well. "Is it because you don't know which is which?" she asked.

"No… It's because there is no division, no difference in their energies. He wants to find this force himself as much as it is telling him he wants to. It has blended with his soul so well that no separation is visible." Fizdis let out a gasp.

"Does that mean it has taken him over?" she cried.

"On the contrary. He is still technically in control of himself, and I can't detect any changes that have been made to his soul."

"…Which means that whatever this thing is had the _same_ energy as Yugi's soul to start with?" Tristan finished.

"Yes, that appears to be the case." Ryou looked down to Yugi who was once again struggling against Tristan's hold. "That may be why it has affected him so deeply." (3)

Shimon commented, "We must figure out what to do with him, until we can find a way to remove this force."

Yugi growled suddenly, the storms in his eyes flashing with lightning. "_I must go to it!_ _Trapped for so long…_" He made a sound almost like a cry of defeat. The others watched as his wrathful state dwindled into one of near sobbing. "_Swallowed by shadows… It wants freedom; I must release it…_" They were surprised to see actual tears in his eyes. "_I have to…_"

They watched his sobs in silence for a moment. Then Fizdis posed the fateful question: "Guys… What if… What if we _let_ Yugi go?"

There was an almost immediate exclamation of "WHAT?" from Tristan, but Ryou held up a hand to shush him. He looked to Fizdis to signal that she could go on. She swallowed. "I mean, if the magic is the same as Yugi's soul, I don't think it _can_ be evil. We know Yugi's good, so whatever this is has to be good too, I think. Just look at him: he's actually in pain over this. He obviously _wants_ to go, and he keeps saying that he needs to… but what if he really _does_ need to? Like, if a part of himself is on the line because of it…" She trailed off with uncertainty.

Ryou smiled at her. "Thank you, Fizdis. I was thinking the same thing." He anticipated Tristan's outburst and interrupted it. "We can always follow him to wherever he's going, to make sure he doesn't get into any trouble. I have a feeling it's somewhere nearby. If push comes to shove we can step in and keep him from getting hurt."

Tristan stared hard at him, then sighed. "All right, fine. You win." He released his hold over Yugi. It took a few seconds for Yugi to realize that he was no longer pinned to the ground. He sat up quickly and looked fearfully at all of them like he was expecting one of them to tackle him. When no one made any move to do so he leapt to his feet, heading straight for Seiyaryu. He was on board and in the air before any of them could say a word.

"Come," said Shimon. "Let's follow him."

Yugi directed Seiyaryu to fly northeast. They followed a fair distance behind him, close enough to keep him in sight but far enough away to where he wouldn't think he was being chased. Soon the area over which they traveled turned rockier as they came closer to the sun-snatching mountains they had seen the previous day. The sun was already filtering around their peaks but Yugi did not let up in his quest. For a time they believed him to be leading them somewhere in the mountains. They found this to be a false assumption when a dark object appeared in the distance, looming over the land with an archaic authority. Drawing closer they found it to be an ancient castle, crumbling away with the sunset. A dark river lay waiting just beyond: the castle was on the edge of a deep canyon that twisted across the land. Yugi flew straight for the castle with rejuvenated energy.

"This must be where the magic is coming from," Fizdis noted. "Yugi's headed right for it."

Ryou nodded. "Yes. I can't sense the source itself, but what I feel from Yugi has grown much stronger. Soon we'll find the cause of all this."

Seiyaryu flew to the front of the building and landed before the entrance. The others landed just as Yugi returned his dragon to its jewel and ran inside. They followed, finding themselves in the vaulted stone entryway. Corridors radiated from the central room in every direction like a labyrinth. Yugi stood in the center of the room, looking at all the doors, determining which one was the right one. He looked to one on the right and froze. He stared at it for several long moments without moving a muscle at all. Then he bolted for it full force.

"Yugi!" Tristan was the first to make a break for him. Yugi did not react to the call, or even seem to hear it. Over his shoulderTristan called back to the others frozen in place: "Well, are you just going to stand there, or are you gonna' follow him and find out what's causing all this?" A few muttered words of contrary and they jogged after him.

The four of them had no choice but to follow where Yugi led them. In his trance he descended into the castle's dark depths, far beyond what should have been the bottom. Their path seemed to lead into the earth itself. Around them it was dark but Yugi somehow avoided its touch and remained lit.

"Is he ever going to stop?" asked Tristan, slightly irate.

"When he reaches the magic, he will stop," Ryou answered. As though he had heard what Ryou said, Yugi halted in his tracks. Just in front of him was a doorway to a room of blackness. Far away within the room was a tiny speck of purple light. Tristan pointed at it eagerly.

"There it is! That must be what Yugi's picking up! Finally!" He moved around Yugi and dashed forward. He had almost entered the room when Ryou seized the back of his jacket tightly.

"No," Ryou said sternly. "You can't go in there."

"What? Why not?" demanded Tristan.

"The shadows will rip you apart if you do."

"Shadows? What shad–" Tristan cut off as he looked into the room. Previously, all his attention had been focused on the speck of light. Now, though, as he looked at the rest of the room, he could see the warped tendrils of shadow slithering and twisting over the stone walls. Occasionally they would splay outward and lash at the air threateningly, daring a soul to befoul their domain. "Holy crap–!"

Fizdis recoiled from the room. "If this is the thing Yugi has to free from the shadows, then that means he has to go in there…! We can't let him get killed!"

The violet speck engulfed by shadows suddenly gave a desperate pulse. At once the storm clouds in Yugi's eyes parted and allowed violet light to fill their place. "_I am here_," he mumbled blearily, in response to a voice that only he could hear. The flickering violet glow dominating his eyes was almost haunting.

"We are so close to the magic's source that his soul has taken the reaction to the next level," Ryou explained quietly, his eyes focused on the walls laced with shadow. "He has succumbed to its full force."

"Yugi, no!" Fizdis cried desperately. "You can't do it! Please!" She moved in front of him and put both hands on his shoulders in an attempt to stop him. The speck throbbed again, and the air around him suddenly turned fiercely hot, like fire. Fizdis shrieked and pulled her hands away.

"_Do not interfere,_" Yugi droned. "_He will not be touched by the shadows._"

Fizdis paled. Was the magic speaking through Yugi? Her voice quiet, she gave one last plea. "Yugi…"

She was ignored. Without turning a glance on any of them, Yugi stepped around Fizdis and entered the room of shadows. Instantly shadows shot from the walls like cobras striking their prey. The room turned darker as Yugi was smothered beneath them. There was a cry of despair from Fizdis; there was no light at all… Then, in a blaze of violet the shadows were thrown off. They burned within the light, writhing and sizzling and hissing in agony. Yugi appeared unharmed as he continued into the room, closer to the back wall and the speck embedded in it. The last of the shadows burned away as he reached it. Slowly, his hand came up, paused for the tiniest moment, and then touched the source of his enrapture.

Everything blazed white.

* * *

Yugi regained consciousness within himself after the world turned white. His head whipped around as he looked right and left, and yet there was nothing to see. He was encompassed entirely by a blank white void. Then, violet shined, and a voice called out to him.

/_You came._/

Yugi turned half-lidded eyes up, to where the voice had sailed down to him from. There was nothing there, yet somehow Yugi knew inherently this voice was someone familiar. "You…"

/_I've been waiting for you._/ The voice of the heavens echoed in his mind, filling its entirety.

Yugi was puzzled. "Waiting? For me?"

/_Yes, ever since you stepped into this world. I knew it was you right away. I swore eternal loyalty to you. Don't you remember?_/

"No…" Yugi mumbled, "but…"

/_Though our forms may change, the bond that connects us endures. It is that bond that drew you to me. I am, and always will be, your faithful servant. I fight for your victory and for your glory. That is why we were never meant to be apart, Soulmaster._/

"Never apart…"

* * *

When the light finally stopped and Tristan and the others could see again, they found the room devoid of shadows. Yugi was on the floor panting, leaning against the back wall supported by his forehead and shoulder. The aura that had once commanded him had gone. His skin looked pale, his eyes out of focus as he stared at something far off in space. Beads of sweat glistened on his brow. The four of them ran forward and were instantly at his side.

"Yugi!" Tristan shook his shoulder. "Hey man, wake up! Ryou, is he…?"

"The magic is gone from him," Ryou answered. "Freeing it from the shadows removed its influence from him."

"What's that he's holding?" asked Fizdis. They looked at his hands, gently cupping something within them. Tristan reached forward to pry his hands open. Yugi hissed suddenly and made him jerk away.

On his own he lifted his hands level with his mouth. He parted them slightly, and whispered into them, "_Mahado._"

Liquid violet light spilled from between the cracks of his fingers. The ribbons of light drifted upward, curling themselves into a knot, forming the shape of a figure…

When the light faded, the Dark Magician floated above them all.

Everyone stared at the being defying gravity. Then Tristan starting laughing with relief. "The Dark Magician… No wonder. It's no wonder at all."

The Dark Magician bowed to them in silent thanks for allowing Yugi to reunite with him. He gave them all one last gaze with eyes backlit by stars. Then he relinquished himself to light again and flowed back into Yugi's hands, at which point Yugi abruptly passed out. He slid down the wall to the floor. His hands parted with the fall, and now the object of mystery was revealed to be a brilliant amethyst jewel. He gripped it tightly even though he was unconscious.

The jewel was the same color as Yugi's soul gem.

"Their magics are the same… just as their souls are," Ryou said slowly. "The need for them to be together brought on the strong magic that led us all here."

Yugi remained unconscious until they were out of the castle. When he woke up he had no memory of what had happened, of the magic, or of that cosmic voice.

All he knew was that Mahado was by his side.

* * *

Notes:

(One) – For reference: think of the Moltres treasure in Pokémon The Movie 2000. That was my inspiration.

(Two) – Called "Beast of Gilfer" in the actual game… called "Archfiend of Gilfer" on the card, which I have. I decided to use the "Archfiend" version, because it sounds more… fiendish? That's what he is, after all.

(Three) – Amazing how Ryou became that adept at reading magic that quickly.

SC: All I can say is that I told you I had ideas. If you read the thing on my profile, you'd also know that I warned you ahead of time that this chapter was going to be full of magic. And it gets better. (devious grin)

(cough) And now, we see the difference having ideas makes. Not only did I write this chapter IN ONE WEEK HOLY CRUD (I was going to post this last Sunday but the site wouldn't let me on for some reason), but you can see the places where my diction shifts when I was trying to get through to another section. Mah.

I _really_ hope you enjoyed that, as I've been harboring ideas for this for a long time… I for one think it's the best chapter yet, although I'll leave that up to you to decide.

Please review, ask questions and whatnot… They make me dance.


	11. Crucial Battle

SC: THE CHAPTER HAS BEEN UPDATED! If you've read chapter eleven before, the second half has now been added! Unfortunately, I had to delete the chapter and replace it in order to get an alert to go out. If you reviewed, thank you and sorry for having to delete it!

I also changed the footnote things. They annoyed me.

Be warned, as this is now a Death Chapter because it's the length of two! (Nearly forty pages!)

**Crucial Battle**

_Yugi's daring plan turned the tide of the battle. They appeared from behind and sent the enemy running. Seeing the entire Imperial army in disarray, Yugi decides to surround the largest fortress in the Empire, Enno. With the capital of Sygh-Varths just beyond Enno, if Yugi takes the fortress he'll have the Empire by the jugular. With his entire Empire at stake, Emperor Haysheen himself leads an army to face Yugi and protect Enno Fortress. The fate of the Empire lies in the balance as their greatest battle yet is poised to start!_

Sunset's orange, gold, and crimson light shared its hues with the leaves and their faces. The resistance moved in silence except for the noise of their monsters' motion and the susurrant branches above them. They, on their way to the lands surrounding Enno, were currently traveling through a forest path where the chances of running into the enemy were the slimmest. In an amorphous mass they traveled, and not in a line; no one was truly leading or following another. Thoughts of the upcoming battle filled their heads and kept conversation stifled, and Yugi was no exception to the rule as he lingered near the back of their caravan.

He was concentrating his attention on a mental argument that had been bubbling within him for awhile now. The events of the Beasty Badlands were still fresh in his mind (relatively speaking, as he couldn't actually recall them on his own and had to go by what the others had described to him). He gripped Mahado's gem in his left hand while the other held onto Seiyaryu's reins. Since his internal debate began he couldn't remember having ever put the jewel down for longer than a few minutes at a time. Mahado was powerful and his greatest ally, this Yugi easily recognized. The sorcerer would be an extremely valuable addition to the resistance's attack force. His only problem, now, was to decide which monster on his current team he wanted to replace. He felt a bit of resentment at having to do this, and each time he thought he had decided which monster to remove he remembered some spectacular feat it had achieved for him in battle, and had to reconsider. The ordeal was a bit stressful, making Yugi's head hurt.

/_Something concerns you, Soulmaster?_/

The voice pinged in Yugi's mind without warning. Reflexively, he gasped and drew his hand up to his ear. Shooting glances left and right, he noticed that Fizdis had turned around on Uraby's back and was looking at him worriedly. "Yugi, are you okay? You look like you just saw a – a something."

"I… I just…" He closed his eyes briefly before looking at her directly. "Did you hear anything just now?"

She shook her head slowly. "No, nothing." Yugi saw the flickering worry she tried to keep submerged in her chocolate eyes.

_She probably thinks it's magic again._ Since he didn't remember what had happened in the Beasty Badlands, he had to go by the rendition of it he had been told almost immediately afterward. Based on what they had told him, he knew he had been acting pretty crazily under the magic's influence. Not wanting to worry his friends anymore, especially Fizdis, he summoned a grin. "I guess it was just the wind. I'm _fine_," he added with a bit more force than he intended at her skeptical stare. "Really." After a moment Fizdis appeared to accept his excuse and turned back to face the road. Mentally, Yugi breathed a sigh of relief.

/_Magic is a force that can be deadly. She is right to show concern for you._/

Yugi nearly fell off Seiyaryu, though he managed to restrain the gasp this time. _That voice…_ He focused his thoughts inwardly to his heart. /_Hold on… Mahado? Is that you?_/

Sonorous laughter resonated in his ears. /_You catch on quickly, Soulmaster. It would take most a good while to figure out how to reply as well; all a measure of your ability._/

Yugi waited for a moment after Mahado had finished speaking. He looked around at all of his fellow travelers. None of them seemed even aware of the conversation taking place behind them. /_How is this possible, Mahado?_/ he asked. /_This speech between us that no one else hears…_/

/_As I have said, it is a measure of your ability and of our bond._/ Yugi could almost see Mahado's eyes before him, twinkling with pride. /_My thoughts reach you through our souls' connection. Your innate magical ability, then, allows you to see through the veils enshrouding my thoughts and comprehend them as spoken words._/

It took a few moments for Yugi to work through what he had said. /_…Okay, I think I get it._/ He directed Seiyaryu to fly a few feet farther behind the group. Since he was paying attention to Mahado now instead of to the outside world, he didn't want the others witnessing any unconscious reactions to his current conversation. Once in place he asked of him/_So, Mahado, why is it that you started to speak with me at all?_/

/_Soulmaster, I sensed concern and guilt in your heart. What plagues you?_/

Yugi hesitated for a moment. He had not intended for Mahado to know of his inner debate, for he didn't want him to feel he was the cause of it all. /_Mahado,_/ he began with a bit of uncertainty/_I understand that you and I fight best side by side. For that reason I wish to have you with me when I face the Empire. However, the rules of this realm dictate that a marshal can only carry with him three monsters to command, which means that in order to include you I must relinquish one of the monsters I already have. The choice between them is the source of the guilt you sensed: all three have exceptional loyalty and have fought bravely beside me in the past._/

Mahado didn't answer immediately. /_Have you no ideas, Soulmaster?_/

/_Well… I know I want to keep Seiyaryu,_/ he replied, stroking his dragon's neck with divided attention.

/_Wisely decided – this creature is one of great power, and in some respects commands more strength than even I._/ Mahado's voice became more serious. /_Your guilt comes from the tear between the other two, then?_/

Yugi sighed. /_Yes… Celtic Guardian has been with me for a long time, even before this realm, but Magician of Faith is… I don't know. "Different" from many other monsters I've seen,_/ he said finally, at-a-loss as to anything else.

A swirled mass of incomprehensible thoughts came from Mahado. While these continued to jumble together a lone message floated above the others. /_Do you seek my advice on the matter?_/

/_Anything you have to add can't hurt._/

Mahado paused. Yugi could almost feel him fossicking through the tangled web of his thoughts in search of the perfect one to word his opinion. /_While it is not my decision to make, my advice is such: keep the one of Faith, the magician. Though Celtic Guardian is a valuable ally, his ways are those of the warrior. You, Soulmaster, are one of great magical skill. Your strength lies not with the sword, but with the staff. For this reason, I believe, you sense a difference in Magician of Faith that is not present in other monsters. Her magic functions well with yours and is thus the better choice of ally._/

Yugi pondered his reasoning. /_You know, Mahado, you make a good argument_/ he said with a grin as he mulled over the words. /_… And, I believe you to be right._/ He broke from the conversation temporarily and touched Celtic Guardian's lime green gem one last time. _I'm sorry for this…_ Slowly he pulled the gem from around his neck and slid it into his pocket. Then he replaced it with Mahado's gem, which glittered brightly beside his own. As Yugi admired the effect he glanced at the collection of jewels as a whole: two purples, a pink, and magenta. They seemed to go together now, their colors complimenting each other and helping them to shine. Now that he noticed, he realized that the green gem he had just put away had clashed with those around it. It hadn't created the same kind of harmony that these four now made. Mahado's rationale proved to be truer than before, that Yugi's gem shone brighter when in tandem with those more similar to it. Yugi drew his attention back to the plane of his mind.

/_Thank you for your help, Mahado._/

/_Of course, Soulmaster._/

/_Mahado…_/ Yugi said suddenly, an idea leaping into his head. /_I have something else to ask of you._/ He touched a hand to the crimson orb around his neck, the flame inside still burning on its own. /_Do you know what this is? What purpose it might serve?_/

He felt a portion of Mahado's magic extend and wrap around the object of question. It checked over the smooth glass surface in rolling waves. When Mahado recalled it Yugi could sense that he was shaking his head. /_I am sorry, Soulmaster, but I cannot discern the information you desire. I can tell that it is a magical item, but little else: its magic is ancient, cryptic in nature to begin with, and with the years of age it has become all but unreadable. As to its purpose, I can offer no insight on the matter._/

A bit crestfallen at Mahado's answer, Yugi managed to hide it before replying. /_That's all right. Thank you for trying, at least._/ He couldn't suppress the feeling that the orb had a purpose it was made to uphold. He wanted desperately to know what it was, to know the answer to this mystery.

/_I am only sorry I cannot be of further help to you. Soulmaster, I think it now best for me to break from our discussion, so as to allow you more time to think to yourself. Should you have need of me, you need only to call._/ With that, Yugi felt Mahado slip out of his mind, taking his thoughts with him. His head now seemed eerily empty without them. As he rejoined his friends in travel once again the weighted silence only made him feel all the more alone.

* * *

When the forest path they followed widened and blended in with a grassy plain, the moon was beginning its ascent into the sky. Gentle but cold breezes swept over them. They needed cover for the night, so they took to following Shimon, as he claimed to know of a nearby castle. Undulating hills rose around them as they made their way through the gradual valleys in between. Indigo and silver mixed in the quiet air around them. 

_Too quiet_, thought Yugi. Inside he was tense even though he couldn't explain why. They were out in the open, undefended but at night when no one else should have been around. The others seemed to be at peace, so why couldn't he get over this unsettling feeling?

"This is our most important battle yet, isn't it?" asked Tristan out of the blue, startling everyone.

Yugi turned narrowed violet eyes to him. "Yes. If we win here, and defeat the Emperor, total victory is given."

"But we must be careful," Shimon cut in. "He may be old, but Haysheen is still feared as a very powerful marshal. We should not be so foolish as to underestimate his abilities."

Tristan looked like his pride had taken a hit upside the face. "Not so tough that we can't take him if we work together!" he yelled back.

"Right," said Ryou. "We must win here so that we can finish this once and for all."

"Right!" Fizdis agreed.

Yugi couldn't help but grin at his comrades' renewed fighting spirit. He opened his mouth to add his own words to the conversation when the unsettling feeling returned to seize him by the wrist. He looked in the direction the feeling tugged, to the top of the nearest hill.

"Yugi?" asked Ryou. "What is it?"

With a frightening calmness in his voice, he answered, "We have company."

The others turned to the hilltop, and thought that Yugi could have worded his statement a little better. The resistance didn't just have company: they had a _lot_ of company. All around them, commanding every hill, were monsters, warriors and fiends and beasts… They growled and snarled down at the stragglers caught in their trap. Dispersed among the monsters were Imperial soldiers, perhaps twenty of them, meaning that the monsters surrounding them numbered upwards of fifty. An army bore down upon them with the weight of the entire Empire itself.

Tristan swallowed audibly. "Holy–!"

"An ambush," Yugi said in the same ethereal calmness. Growls began spilling from Seiyaryu's beak, and he leaned forward to pat the side of its head. He turned to those around him, his eyes radiating neither valiant hope nor a bleak view towards the outcome, but a look of set stone. It was a look that said the only way out was to fight or go down fighting. "A moment ago, each of you showed your determination to fight. Let's put our words to action!" A fierce spark suddenly flashed in his eyes. Seiyaryu pivoted on its toes to face the myriad and loosed a reverberating roar. "Okay everyone, let's do this!" Yugi's voice pierced every one of their hearts.

The enemy monsters reacted to Seiyaryu's daring invitation. They thundered down from the hills, claws, teeth, and swords pointed to the center of their ring of death. Flashes of colored light, like flowers blooming in the open field, shone in the center as the resistance called their entire fighting force to the fore. A band of five rebels, with fifteen monsters, now faced a battle four times their size. "Those of you who can get airborne, get there now!" Yugi shouted. "Monsters included! Avoid what damage you can!" Ryou and Shimon rose into the night air beside him. Ryou's Bickuribox drifted upwards from the battlefield; though it couldn't truly fly, it could at least levitate enough to be out of range of most monsters' attacks. Mahado came to hover beside Yugi.

/_Soulmaster, I have faith in you._/

Yugi felt a wave of confidence touch his heart from Mahado. He flashed a grin to him. /_And I in you. Now, let's show them the power of magic!_/ Orally he called: "Black Magic!" Mahado's jade staff filled with purple energy. He twirled the staff though the air, though it never touched his hands during its flight. Suddenly he thrust up his palm, facing the nearest enemy, and a barrage of energy blasts shot forth. The hailstorm came upon the two nearest creatures, Silver Fang and Rogue Doll. Their forms became distorted by the heavy rain of magic that engulfed them in its veils. When the attack cleared, nothing remained but dancing sparks and blackened divots in the ground where they once stood.

Mahado's success inspired the remaining monsters standing beneath. Bursts of flame issued forth from the fire-breathers while other monsters charged headfirst into the enemy lines. Gazelle pounced upon the nearest foe, landing so the claws of both sets of feet drew blood; Beaver Warrior scampered through the ranks, scratching at the enemies' legs, hindering their movement so that other, stronger monsters could fare better against them. Those in the air fought their counterparts. There were only two monsters capable of true flight, a pair of Dragon Seekers, but there were more monsters that could float above the melee and use sniper attacks on their land-bound foes. Bursts of orange, red, and silver fire flared in the night sky as the resistance dragons flew in gyrating ellipses, striking their targets while avoiding the dive-bombs of the Dragon Seekers.

Tristan, atop Gazelle, watched as an Imperial marshal ordered an attack against Blackland Fire Dragon. A pack of three warriors surrounded the forest-scaled beast while relentlessly dodging his gusts of flame. Anger tightened Tristan's heart as he watched the Imperial marshal laugh smugly at the dragon's misfortune. He dug in his heels and Gazelle took off running. The Imperial marshal was still cackling, until a shadow befell him. He turned to see a great beast lunge.

"_Never,_" Tristan said darkly, "_do that again._" Like lights at the end of a tunnel, extinguished when all hope is lost, Gazelle's glowing gold eyes darkened with the night. (1) Bloodstained claws shred reddened fabric to ribbons. As soon as the action occurred, the three monsters surrounding Blackland Fire Dragon froze in their darting movements, as though dazed. Bearing bloody lacerations on his chest and wings, Blackland Fire Dragon looked up from his pain to his three confused opponents. Fire and blood lashed rabidly from its mouth upon them. Flames, and Gazelle's aiding claws, devoured them.

"Hot Tunes!" Ryou cried hoarsely while gripping his dragon's head feathers with white knuckles. Parrot Dragon barrel-rolled and banked at the same time, angling herself for a nearby Castle of Dark Illusions. As she unleashed her attack and zoomed around for another go, Ryou's frantic eyes searched the battlefield. His Bickuribox looked worn, harrowed by the Dragon Seekers that were unable to catch the swift dragons. The others in the air with him appeared strained from battle but otherwise fine. He scrutinized then below, in the mesh of monsters, searching for the last of his own. Finally he spotted a pair of floppy ears amidst the chaos. Relieved that his last monster was doing okay in battle, he forced himself to look again upon the scene. Dark Rabbit was in the middle of the battlefield… picking flowers.

"You stupid!" he said exasperatedly. Dark Rabbit noticed him and waved a voluminous hand, his tongue glimmering along with his toothy grin.

Ansatsu, a ninja who carried a long dagger, and an Axe Raider had teamed up against a King Rex. Flashing steel slashed at the base of each of the creature's necks, causing it to howl with pain. Each warrior stood on opposite sides, so that if King Rex were to go after one, the other would attack from behind. The draconic monster could only stand in the middle and suffer the taste of their weapons. After surviving another round of their blades and the warriors had come to rest on opposite sides once more, King Rex swung one head to each of them. Jets of flame shot towards each monster with rage-enhanced speed. One jet hit its mark on Axe Raider, but Ansatsu was quick and leapt artfully out of the way. The fire continued on and struck the ground, igniting the grass. Soon orange flames grew to spread across the battlefield. Above the cacophony of war the roar of starving fire tainted the bloodstained sky.

A tearing screech rent the sky. One of the Dragon Seekers, finally bored with beating up on Ryou's Bickuribox, was charging at Yugi and Seiyaryu with hell-bent speed. Seiyaryu saw the oncoming attack and tucked in its wings so that it dropped harmlessly beneath. Once it had passed Yugi followed the fiend's trail with his eyes. He pulled Seiyaryu away from the battle they currently waged to chase after the monster and destroy it once and for all. Dragon Seeker made fierce swoops and rolls to shake off its pursuers. Seiyaryu followed with just as much speed but less agility, as having a passenger prevented it from making movements too harsh. "Shining Plasma!" Yugi declared. An orange-and-silver fireball shot from its beak, but Dragon Seeker dodged the attack. Several more shots proved just as ineffective. The fiend was too fast to be hit while it was airborne.

"We can't hit it!" Yugi hissed in desperation, his fists clenching around the leather strap of the reins. Seiyaryu's sapphire eyes sparked with intensity. It growled urgently at Yugi as though asking for another chance to attack their target. Yugi saw the fierceness in his dragon's eyes, and nodded. "Shining Plasma!" he called again. Another mass of flames bounded forth from Seiyaryu's beak, this time colored the purest of silver. Dragon Seeker screeched gloatingly and banked sharply to the left out of harm's way. Before another growl of frustration could rise in his throat again Yugi paused, his eyes on the fireball. Instead of continuing indefinitely in a straight line, its path bent, curving so that the flames could pursue its target. Dragon Seeker noticed this and tried to escape its onslaught, but whether he dove or rolled the fireball followed. As he watched the Dragon Seeker's frantic efforts to keep from getting hit Yugi felt his frustration replace itself with disbelief. "Homing fireballs!" Seiyaryu growled affirmatively.

They chased the Dragon Seeker through the sky, adding more fireballs to the number zooming relentlessly after it. Yugi saw Shimon and Ryou battling at a distance and hurled his voice to them with as much volume as he could: "_Ryou! Shimon! Let me take care of the flying monsters! Help with the land battle!_" They turned and saw the battle he was waging; the second Dragon Seeker that they had been dealing with dove through them with eager fury to join the aerial "parade." Ryou and Shimon looked at each other, then swooped closer to the ground and unleashed attacks on the Imperial forces.

Over his shoulder Yugi saw the second Dragon Seeker. If he could get behind it then Seiyaryu could attack with its fireballs, yet the fiend seemed aware of this and kept a good distance from the resistance pair. Yugi was trying to devise a way to lure it into his line of fire when suddenly he heard a sharp screech. Whipping his head back to the front he saw that the original Dragon Seeker had reversed its path and was now flying directly at him. The bony blade on its right arm whistled in the wind and led the string of silver lights behind it. Seiyaryu didn't have enough time to react to the sudden turn of events. Dragon Seeker plowed through. A sickening crack sounded as bone snapped under armored bone.

"KRAAAHL!" Seiyaryu's roar shook the air even above the clamor of battle rising from below. The dragon immediately tipped to the side without the support of its broken wing. Yugi felt gravity take hold of him and twist his stomach into a knot. Seiyaryu was falling; _No_, he realized as he slipped away from his dragon, _he_ was! Cold wind grabbed him by his jacket with its biting nails and made to deliver him to the charcoal earth below. The stars, obscured by the hazy smoke that drifted across the sky, blurred with motion as he pitched backward toward the ground.

_Aaaah!_ he screamed in his mind, unable to open his mouth, yet it was doubtful the cry would have been heard above the victorious snarl of the wind. Gravity closed an iron fist around his insides, sending blood pounding from his heart and squishing his brain in its clutches, when it all abruptly ceased. Yugi halted in his midair fall, the wind hissing as it was made to relinquish its prey. He felt a slight _whump_ sensation, like he had landed on a giant pillow. All around him the warm feeling of feathers tickled his skin. He managed to calm his racing heart enough to see that he was still hanging in the sky, superimposed against the backdrop of stars. A thin emerald glow traced the edges of his frame as he turned to see Mahado with his staff aimed at him.

/_Soulmaster!_/ Mahado's voice sounded gratified and turned up at the edges with tension. Yugi was still a bit too shocked to answer. Hastily the magician came up beside him. /_Soulmaster, are you all right?_/ he asked again.

/_Th-Thank you,_/ Yugi said numbly. /_You just saved my life…_/

Without replying Mahado spun around. The Dragon Seeker that wasn't being chased by fireballs was diving towards them, arm-blades exposed maliciously. Mahado immediately thrust up his palm to Yugi. At once the warm feathers supporting him fluttered like mad and pulled him sharply backwards out of the monster's path. Yugi could see the leathery scowl on the fiend's face before it swooped past. It screeched and turned to rejoin the Seiyaryu hunt. The rose-colored dragon had used a Blue Medicine on its wing to repair the broken bone, but the effects had been limited. Even at a distance Yugi could see the gnarled knot where the two bones had been haphazardly re-fused. Seiyaryu's flight was wobbly and proved it a much easier target.

/_Soulmaster…_/ Mahado began again.

Yugi interrupted/_Help Seiyaryu! It can't fend off an assault like this!_/

Mahado's eyes showed coldness not unlike the darkened depths of space. /_Soulmaster, I cannot use my magic attacks while I hold you here. Your dragon can no longer carry you in flight, and the ground is not safe for you either. Here is the only place you will not get hurt._/

"I don't care if I get hurt!" Yugi hollered, aloud. "Seiyaryu needs help! It'll be destroyed if you don't stop those Dragon Seekers!"

He suddenly found himself an inch away from Mahado's face, his eyes chilling and without light. /_Seiyaryu can recover if it is destroyed, but_ you _cannot. I will _not_ allow you to be injured._/ Yugi actually recoiled from him, the sight of such irises driving icicles into his heart.

A distant, pained roar jarred him loose from his frozen stance. Yugi looked helplessly at Seiyaryu, and then back at Mahado. /_…Is there nothing you can do?_/

/_There is only one._/ Mahado surveyed him astringently. /_There is a way that I can turn over the threads of the levitation spell to you, so that you are the one supporting the magic. However,_/ he stressed when he saw Yugi's eyes light up/_having a spell transferred to oneself is draining, and the levitation spell by itself is taxing enough in its own right. I fear the spell's weight may be too much for you, as you have never controlled a magic like this and your mental endurance has never been tried in this manner._/

/_I don't care,_/ Yugi answered immediately. /_Seiyaryu needs help. I can handle myself on my own._/ The recalcitrant glimmer in his eyes prevented Mahado from uttering anymore words of persuasion. He raised his index and middle fingers, a light of deep indigo surrounding their tips. Wisps of enchanting words upon his lips, Mahado brought up his hand and pressed his lit fingertips against Yugi's forehead. Yugi took in a gasp of air, his eyes wide, as he literally felt silken threads of magic slither into his consciousness. Mahado removed his hand.

Suddenly Yugi felt incredibly heavy. All of the feathers that had once gently supported him now drove their quills deep into his flesh and turned to lead. The threads of magic were tied to what Mahado had called "the weight of the spell," yet Yugi had not known that he meant the term literally. Like a great leaden ball borne by a prisoner, the magic affixed itself to Yugi's mind with an iron chain. His head actually jerked backward with the weight as it pulled on the back of his brain. The emerald light around him sputtered violently and he dropped several feet in the air.

/_Soulmaster!_/ Mahado cried, yet before he could move to reclaim the spell Yugi stopped and the aura returned full strength. With great difficulty Yugi commanded the petrified feathers to carry him back to Mahado's side. Panting from the effort, he managed to muster a smirk.

/_I – am fine,_/ Yugi said between breaths. /_Now go – help fight._/ Mahado nodded and spun around, zooming off through the night. Yugi watched him go and advance upon one of the Dragon Seekers, yet did not see the splendid blast of magic that eliminated it. The levitation spell took too much of his concentration to hold in place for him to do anything but keep his eyes shut and his energy focused inward. He attended to each feather separately, assuring that it would continue to hold him up. Again he failed to see Mahado's victory, using a spell to freeze the fleeting Dragon Seeker in place and finally allow for the silver fireballs to hit their mark.

A Battle Ox bellowed and leapt up from the ground, raking its axe across Bickuribox.

"HYI!" Bickuribox laughed before it was destroyed and sent back to its gem.

"No!" Ryou huffed. He was starting to get worn out by his dragon's acrobatics. Currently she was corkscrewing endlessly, confusing the monsters below her so she could more easily strike their weak points. Both he and his dragon were defending Dark Rabbit, whom was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the field and fashioning a flower chain. After the battle Ryou planned to give the stupid monster a talking-to. Dark Rabbit held up his chain to admire it. He grinned naïvely, unaware that a hulking monster had appeared behind it.

Ryou paled. "Watch out!" Dark Rabbit turned to look into the contorted face of a Megazowler. It was bigger than Fizdis's, with a more ragged hide that donned it more resistance to the force of ramming its enemies. With a foolish laugh Dark Rabbit stood and draped the flower chain over Megazowler's horns. He topped his gift with a big lick upside the dinosaur's face. Ryou put a hand on his face, muttering, "He's done for…"

Megazowler snorted. It brushed its foot through the dirt threateningly. Dark Rabbit continued to skip about and giggle. He turned his back and Megazowler chose that moment to charge. Bleached horns backed by tons of muscle sent the much smaller monster flying. Ryou watched the Toon monster soar by, waving as he passed, before vanishing into its jewel.

"SQUAWK!" Ryou was suddenly jerked as Parrot Dragon took a hit to her leg and was knocked out of her most recent string of aerial maneuvers. She swung in a wide arc to steady herself, yet she had barely done so when another burst of light from below struck her. This time she spun out of the air, Ryou clinging to her feathers like a burr; she just barely managed to prevent herself from colliding with the ground. Now, though, she was flying low above the battlefield, and the Imperial monsters that saw her decided that she was a better choice to attack. As she flew they thrust up their weapons for her to fly into, or they leapt up and snapped their fangs at her tail. She squawked and Ryou, who was receiving some of the blows himself, screamed.

"_Aaaah!_"

Yugi's eyes flew open at the sound. While one part of his mind kept the spell in check the other focused his eyes on the scene below. When he found his friend and saw he and his dragon beset with the enemy, he felt his chest tighten. He kept watching when suddenly a samurai monster, Zanki, leapt upward just as they flew overhead. The point of his sword went cleanly through Parrot Dragon, rending her in half, while Ryou received a gash to his leg. In slow motion Parrot Dragon kept moving forward for a moment before green light bubbled up and swallowed her form. With nothing beneath him, Ryou dropped to the ground. Clouds of dust arose from the impact.

"_Ugn!_" Ryou grunted. He tasted the iron of blood in his mouth. His leg screamed at him, and when he looked and saw it bleeding profusely, his already pale face took on a greenish-blue tinge. Hot, stagnant breath blown in his face caused him to look up, into the snarling visage of a Battle Ox. It roared, sending phlegm flying from its mouth as its massive foot plowed into Ryou's stomach. The kick sent him back several feet, scraping along the ground with all the breath knocked out of him. He struggled to lift himself against the throbs of disagreement from his limbs. On hands and knees he coughed raggedly, and blood spilled forth. Shuddering from the pain, he did not see the great beast raise its axe above his head.

Yugi called to him, "Ryou!" yet it did nothing; like the whirling arm of a windmill Battle Ox brought down his axe. Even from where he floated in the sky Yugi could hear the _crack_, the resonating, sickening, ever-lingering sound of the flat of the axe against his skull.

"_Ryou!_" Yugi yelled. Crimson-tainted silver swayed like a wind-struck curtain as Ryou rolled forward to meet the ground. All motion left him after that. The Battle Ox huffed haughtily and stomped off to find another foe. Without hesitation Yugi poured all his energy into the invisible feathers encompassing him. The myriad of quills whirred with motion and sent him careening downward to the heaviest spot on the battlefield. He half-landed, half-skidded on his knees beside his friend. Once on the ground the emerald aura around him drifted away into nothing.

"Ryou!" Yugi tried again, his hand resting upon Ryou's shoulder. Ryou did not respond. Yugi turned him over onto his back, where the moonlight lit his pale face and revealed the nauseating purple-green shade seeping into his cheeks. The image was slightly distorted, and Yugi shook his head; the removal of the levitation spell's lead weight left his mind reeling and weary. Still, he ignored the feeling and leaned over Ryou's face. He was still breathing, but the intake of air was weak and becoming more so.

"Hold on – Ryou," he slurred through thick breaths. Yugi's lungs now snapped at him, demanding air, yet the more he gave them the dizzier he felt. It seemed the magic had drained him more than he had previously realized. One hand still on Ryou's shoulder, he steadied himself with the other as the world rocked beneath him. He closed his eyes with a groan and saw colors wink back at him. His heart was thumping in his chest with a great club.

Something tickled the hand against Ryou's shoulder. He cracked open one eye, paused as the world slowed in its spinning, then saw that Ryou had vanished, as though never there. The only remaining indication of his presence was the purple-gray gemstone lying in the dirt. Light glinted dully off its facets as Yugi moved to grab the stone. He gripped it weakly, his other hand clawing at the ground. "Ryou…" Gravity tugged on him in waves until he too fell to it. His breath came heavily and his eyes were all but closed.

Around him the resistance monsters were meeting the same fate. The sheer numbers of the Empire were now quelling their rebellious spirit, which had been the only thing keeping them standing for so long. The Ansatsu that had been pestering King Rex finally felled the great scaled beast. Blackland Fire Dragon collapsed, the weight of its wounds too great, while Megazowler fell to a side-blow by its Imperial counterpart. The resistance was losing, defeat closing its shaded fist around them.

Zanki saw Yugi lying barely conscious on the field. His armor clinked as he walked, his blade easing out of its sheath; slowly he approached his weakened human target. Moonlight set ablaze the polished edge of the blade as it came to rest against Yugi's throat. Even if he were aware of the sword's presence he could do nothing to escape its impending assault. The blade was raised, held like a banner of victory, then swung down in a speedless song of air.

It _thunk_-ed harmlessly against a barrier of ebony diamond.

"Sorry," a voice, brimming with biting valor, said. Its words gave light to the darkness enshrouding the battle. "Your fight is with me." The ebony barrier moved and returned to the great beast it was a part of. Cold rubies set into the sea of black diamond glittered with spite. With viciousness not unlike the darkness itself the creature tore into Zanki and destroyed it.

The protective hand of the shining voice embraced Yugi's shoulder. "Hey," it said, slipping through the clouded folds of his mind like the sleekest of needles. "Ya' look pretty beat – nearly dead! What took this much outta' you?"

Even in his exhaustion Yugi found he could not deny the voice an answer. "_Magic_," he said thickly, in a half-sigh, and immediately felt even dizzier afterward. The owner of the voice seemed to notice this and firmed its grip on his shoulder.

"I don't know much about magic," it admitted, "but I know you need to rest. Don't worry about the battle. I'll make sure nothing touches you."

Yugi's eyes flickered open despite their desperate wail for sleep. "_But_…" He turned his head slightly to try and see the voice's owner. "_Who…?_"

All he saw was brilliant gold, shining against the black sky and nearly blinding him. "Don't worry about anything," the voice insisted, its light as bright as that of the gold dominating Yugi's field of vision. "I'll be with you. Take it easy." The voice's soothing waves eased into his ears and Yugi allowed himself to slowly succumb to them. He turned back and let his eyes slide shut.

"_Thank you,_" he whispered as sleep pressed a pillow over his consciousness, muffling the outside world. The hand on his shoulder was a warm blanket shielding him from the night, and he heard the remnants of a triumphant roar before he drifted off into tranquility.

* * *

Yugi opened his eyes, and saw Fizdis three inches from his face. 

"Jesus!" he swore, jerking away from her. He sat up quickly and tried to calm his fleeting heart with quick gasps of air. Glancing at her he said, "Don't do that!" Fizdis nodded feebly.

"Well, at least you're awake." Yugi turned and saw Tristan slouched in a chair that had been turned around backwards, with the back legs hovering just above the floor.

"Yes, I – wait, hold on," Yugi looked around and saw that they were in a stone chamber made up like a bedroom. "Where…? How… What happened to the battle?"

"Relax. That was all last night. After it ended we made it to the castle Shimon was leading us to in the first place."

"What happened?" Yugi demanded suddenly. His voice showed his keenness for learning the results of the battle.

Tristan held up his hands defensively. "Hey now! First, you gotta' tell us what happened to you!" He turned his head to the side, his chin angled up, and eyed him with a mock sense of threat. "When it was all over you were already out, and we didn't see any injuries on you that could have done anything."

Yugi's eyes narrowed, softening their glare. One hand lifted and rubbed impressions of circles into his temple. "It wasn't physical… it was a spell that weakened me."

"Magic _again_?" Tristan asked incredulously. "Man, you need to keep away from that stuff if you ask me."

"It wasn't like that!" he countered. "I was only maintaining a spell that another person cast."

"Let me guess: your Dark Magician?" Yugi nodded. "I think I saw some of that – I looked up and I saw you floating next to him, but there was this green light…"

"That was the levitation spell. I asked him to transfer it to me so he could help fight. He warned me that it would be draining, but I guess I was too stubborn to listen to him at the moment…" He closed his eyes. "I'm still a bit dizzy from it all. It all but killed me just to get to Ryou…" Suddenly his eyes flew open, the memory of Ryou's face flashing back to him in haunting snippets. "Ryou! I forgot all about him!" Yugi's eyes darted between Tristan and Fizdis. "What happened to him? Is he okay? Where is he?"

"Calm down, Yugi!" Fizdis urged with a weakness in her voice that revealed her weariness. "Ryou is fine. He's in another room right now."

"Are you sure he's all right? He was practically dead when I got to him, and, and–" Yugi looked to the ground as he floundered for something to say. Another memory from the fateful battle resurfaced in his mind. "I saw him disappear! He _vanished!_ There was nothing left but his jewel!"

Tristan sighed heavily. "I guess I don't blame you for it, but calm down, man. Like we said, Ryou's _fine_. We got to you and found his jewel in your hand, and Shimon took it from there. While you're right when you say that he was almost dead when you found him – he was – he's all right now and is recovering."

Yugi stared at him. "But… If the jewel was all that was left, then how did you…?"

"Hey, Shimon did it, not me," he answered, holding up his hands again. "Ask him. Other than that, don't worry about it for now."

_Don't worry_. The words echoed in his head and Yugi was reminded of the shining voice that had guarded him. Even though he hadn't been conscious he somehow knew that its hand had never left his shoulder. Yugi blinked the afterglow of the gold from his eyes. He knew that voice, but didn't. He knew it didn't belong to Tristan, or Mahado, or anyone from the resistance, but he didn't know exactly who it _did_ belong to.

"Tristan. You said that 'you' found me, yet you used the word 'we.' Who was it that was there with me that night?" He focused on Tristan with eyes that swirled with revelry at the mysterious presence. "I remember someone, a voice that wasn't yours or anyone else's…"

At this, Tristan gave him a lopsided smile, a grinning smirk, as though he expected the question. "So you _were_ awake enough for that, even though you were practically asleep with your eyes open. He said that he'd talked to you, but that you were so weak in response that he wasn't sure you would remember it."

Yugi's brow furrowed. "'He' who?" Tristan was about to answer when the sound of voices talking in the hallway outside their room interrupted him. One of them was a great deal louder than the other one was.

"I would answer that," said Tristan, "but I think you're about to find out for yourself." Just as he finished the handle of the door clicked. The heavy door groaned as it opened, revealing Shimon and another, taller, leaner figure, hands stuffed in its pockets, beside him. Yugi's eyes widened as he stared; a moment passed between them when the figure saw him at met his gaze.

"Well," the figure said after a moment, and silence evaporated at his words, "I see you're finally awake, Crazy." Yugi found himself grinning, a laugh sounding in his throat, and suddenly they were both laughing uncontrollably.

"Why didn't I see this coming?" asked Yugi between laughs. He looked to his friend with happiness radiating on his face. "I'm glad you decided to track us down, Joey."

The blonde youth mirrored his expression. "Sorry I'm late!" He made a bow with a flourish of his arm. "Everything's going to be okay now that I'm here!" Joey looked up from his pose, a sneaky grin on his face. He crossed the room in a few swift strides and seized his friend in a one-armed hug around the neck. With the other hand he proceeded to tousle Yugi's hair. "So, what's the big idea of letting yourself get whipped so easily? That's not the Yug' I know! It takes at least three Kaibas to do that!"

"Joey! Hey!" Yugi struggled with only half the intent to get free from Joey's grasp. "What's with the grandstanding, Joey?" he countered. "You're late!" Joey released him and he pulled away, panting and running his hand through his hair to smooth the ruffled spikes.

Crossing his arms in a fake pout, Joey said, "Aw, shut up! I didn't exactly have an easy time getting here! _Someone_ left without telling me where he was going–" he glared pointedly at Tristan, "– so I had no clue where to look for you guys. Luckily, you guys leave a trail like a six lane highway behind you: I heard the island had been taken from the Empire, and when I reached the strait Mako told me where you where headed." Yugi nodded and sighed.

"Well, I'm glad you got here when you did," he answered, his eyes darkening slightly and shying to the ground. "I don't think I would've made it past the night without you."

"None of us would've," Tristan cut in. "If Joey hadn't shown up as reinforcements, we would've lost. Some of his dumb luck rubbed off on us, I guess." Joey looked daggers at him.

"Watch it…"

"You watch it!"

"Fighting already?" asked Yugi innocently. Both boys looked at him with sheepish grins.

"Sorry…"

"Yugi," Joey began, "I have somethin' to tell ya'. Mai's headed this way, too. She should be here any time now."

"Mai?" Yugi repeated. He hadn't anticipated that she had been trapped in this world as well. "That's great! We've definitely got the upper hand now. Two extra marshals are a big help."

"Not quite," said Shimon. "Ryou is still recovering from his injuries, and will not be well enough to fight for a while."

"You're not much better, Yugi," Joey cut in. "The way you looked last night, there's no way you could be at one hundred percent already." He slapped Yugi on the shoulder. Yugi was about to contradict him when his eyesight suddenly blurred. His hand returned to his temple almost instantly. "See? You're still all dizzy."

"That's not fair," Yugi said with one eye closed. "I was fine until you hit me."

"Yeah? Well, fair or not, it proves my point. We need to hang around for Mai anyway, and we might as well do it here. So you and Ryou get better, and we wait for Mai."

Yugi didn't have any more say in the matter. He spent the next two hours cooped up in the same room, as both Joey and Fizdis refused to let him go anywhere or even leave the bed. He wasn't tired enough to go back to sleep, so instead he talked with Joey and swapped stories of their adventures in the virtual realm. Joey showed a great interest in Yugi's crusades around Vaxi Island, yet as he listened to Joey's tales he found that Joey had already experienced several times the adventure that he had.

"Kaiba _and_ Malik? You fought them _both_?"

"Yep." Joey drew himself up proudly.

Tristan had been helping with the stories on both sides whenever he could. "Yeah, but you _lost_ to Kaiba," he pointed out. Joey deflated and scowled at Tristan.

"You just wait," he said with a gleam in his eye. "If I ever run into that damn Kaiba again, Yug' and I will send him running the other way whimpering! Isn't that right, Yugi?"

"If you say so."

After a while Shimon reentered, saying he had been scouting around for news on the enemy's movement. He told them that Haysheen was gathering his forces for a head-on assault. "He'll be ready by tomorrow," Shimon told them. "Already it is approaching sundown."

"There's no way we could handle another battle like the last one so soon," Tristan said in frustration. "We might as well be his doormats." Everyone then looked to Yugi, hope in his or her eyes, expecting him to have an idea to counter the enemy's. Yugi had nothing. A bleak silence filled the room after that. It didn't break until Yugi stood up.

"I'm going up to the roof," he announced. "I need some fresh air to think." He paced out of the room before anyone could prevent him from doing so. Once on the roof he leaned against the low stone wall with a sigh. The sun was nearing the painted edge of the world. A light breeze fluttered through Yugi's sun-stained bangs. All was tranquil until the serenity was broken by the sound of footsteps clambering up the stone staircase. Yugi turned just as Joey and Tristan made it to the roof.

"Hey!" The pair approached him, huffing from the journey. "Ya' could've waited!" Joey sulked.

"I wasn't aware a parade was following me."

"Ha, ha. Listen, Yug'." The blonde surveyed him with a frown. "I know you're worked up over tomorrow, but Tristan and I agreed that we're not going to let you kill yourself over it or get yourself beat up trying to fight single-handedly. We're telling you that we're behind you the whole way. You're not fighting any harder than we are."

A faint smile crossed Yugi's lips. "It's nice to hear you say that. Something tells me I knew it all along, but I still appreciate it."

Tristan looked over the castle wall to the plains in the distance. His eyes widened. "Yugi… I think we have company."

"What?" Yugi spun around and practically threw himself onto the line of stone. He looked and saw a black shadow against the sunset. It appeared to be a monster, and was flying right towards them. "Is it the enemy sending its first assault?"

"Why would the enemy be coming from that direction?" Tristan's observation was true: the enemy forces lay to the east, while this unknown entity approached from the northwest. The shadow was coming closer, slowly exposing its shape. Joey stared critically at it for a moment before something in his expression clicked. His tense frame slouched back to normal as he breathed a sigh.

"No, guys… It's not the enemy. In fact, I'd call _her_ our enemy's enemy."

Yugi turned to him quizzically. "Her? Joey, is that Mai?" Joey didn't answer and simply grinned.

The shadow was close enough that its rider was visible as an outline on its back. "Hey!" Yugi heard the voice and recognized it; it was indeed the voice of the spirited female duelist.

Joey stepped forward, his foot poised atop the stone wall, and cupped his hands around his mouth. "So, it took you that long to find us?" he hollered.

"Huh? Joey, is that you? You jerk! You could have at least told me where you were going before you told me to follow you!" she yelled back. At last she was close enough to be seen clearly. The monster she was perched atop turned out to be a Curse of Dragon. It flew towards them and with a few quick beats of its wings settled on the roof. Mai leapt off and strode over to them, her high-heels clicking against the stone. An angry glare shone in her eyes, yet when she saw that Tristan and Yugi were standing there her expression cooled down.

"Tristan, good to see you again…" she said nonchalantly, "… and Yugi! My, my, the famous resistance leader himself!" Her voice was almost inhumanly bright.

Yugi blinked, his cheeks tinted red. "Hello, Mai…"

Mai flicked her hair over her shoulder. "You won't believe some of the things I've heard about you here. From the sound of things you've been pretty busy since you got here. But everyone can relax now; I have arrived!"

"You're late," said Joey. "What took you so long?"

"Oh, be quiet!" She rounded on him, and shrilled, "Didn't your mother ever tell you never to rush a lady?"

Joey recoiled from her. "Geez…" Mai _hmph_-ed and turned towards the staircase, clicking out of sight.

Once she was out of earshot Tristan said to Joey with a sly grin, "You and Mai made similar entrances."

"So what?" Joey's face was suddenly filled with red. Tristan snickered, causing Joey's blush to brighten even more. "What's that smirk supposed to mean, Tristan?" At this Tristan burst out laughing. Joey growled irritably and stomped off, muttering things like "Stupid Tristan" and "Don't know what he's talkin' about."

Yugi laughed at his friends' antics. _Now we're really ready for anything!

* * *

_

Here is where the original chapter ended! From here on everything is new!

* * *

Eventually everyone made it back into the room where Shimon and Fizdis still were. Joey took the liberty of introducing Mai to them. Yugi glanced warily at them as they chatted. Without any of them noticing, he crept out of the room. He walked a few paces, keeping his footfalls as quiet as possible, until he stopped in front of a dark wooden door. Something about this door's grayed, diminished presence and the way it almost wasn't noticeable along the wall assured him that this was the room he was searching for: Ryou's. With one hand holding the door steady to muffle the creak he slipped inside. It was dimly lit, but the dull silver sheen of Ryou's hair made him more easily visible as he lay in his bed. Yugi stepped gingerly through the gloom to his friend's bedside. 

Ryou appeared to be resting peacefully, despite the numerous wounds he had received. A blanket covered him from the chest down, yet Yugi could see the edges of the layers of bandage that wound tightly around his midsection. His right arm was done up in the same way. Then Yugi's eyes came to rest on the muddy red stains marring Ryou's weightless hair. Though the sound of the hideous crack was still fresh in his mind, he hoped that nothing truly serious had arisen from it.

Out of all the resistance, Ryou deserved these injuries the least, Yugi concluded. That should be him lying there bearing those wounds, blood in his hair, not Ryou. Mahado had refused to let Yugi get hurt, and saved him from the fight on the ground with his levitation spell. Why, though? Why was he so much more important than Ryou? Had Mahado guarded Ryou and not Yugi, then it would have been Yugi on the receiving end of the Battle Ox or some other monster's attacks. Fate in its incomprehensive reasoning had decided that Yugi was more important, and so Dame Fortune looked upon him more favorably. (1) It wasn't fair, life never was; Yugi closed his eyes and growled with frustration at everything running through his head.

"I knew you'd be in here eventually." The words were like a tiny bell's chime in the crisp air. Yugi opened his eyes in surprise and found that Ryou was looking at him. Except for the highlight his deep eyes blended in with the dull atmosphere around them. Yugi did not respond, so Ryou continued: "Everyone was in here earlier just as I was waking up, except for you. They said you were unconscious in another room."

"I was," Yugi answered. He held his voice smooth like marble and low-pitched, so as not to overshadow Ryou's frail voice. "I wasn't hurt, though."

Ryou's laugh was weary yet didn't lack the relief behind it. "I see."

"I'm sorry all this happened," Yugi blurted suddenly. "I was there, I saw it all… I… I'm so sorry I couldn't do anything."

"I see. Berating yourself, are you?" Yugi looked at him with surprise. "Don't. I don't blame you. No one could be blamed for any of this but Fate. Not even the monster that did it to me – he was only acting on the orders of battle."

Yugi was silent. After a moment he asked in his still-smoothed voice, "Does it hurt badly?"

Ryou shook his head, and Yugi wished that he wouldn't with the blow to the skull he had taken. "Not terribly. Did Shimon explain it to you?"

"No. I've heard barely three sentences out of him since we got here."

"It's a feature of this realm." Ryou sat up with a slight eagerness in his glimmering eyes. "I'm not quite sure why it happens this way, but just let me say what he told me: here, people get hurt all the time with the relative state of things around the Empire. Marshals do most of the fighting, and so are the most often hurt. If the injuries get bad enough, he said, then the marshal's soul gem takes steps to protect the owner. It draws the owner into itself to keep him or her safe from further damage."

"Wow," commented Yugi. "I saw that, or at least, saw you there and then not there. Yet I have a question: if you were pulled into your soul gem, how did they get you out?"

"The effect wears off after a few hours," he explained. "Then the marshal is returned to the outside world after the danger has hopefully passed. All Shimon and the others had to do was wait. Also," Ryou added with a spark of joy in his eyes, "I think once one has been pulled into their soul gem they heal faster. I felt awful at first, but I feel all right now and it hasn't been that long since I got hurt in the first place. Shimon and Fizdis act like this is commonplace to them. Tristan and Joey were surprised, as was I when I heard. Although, in a game world I guess anything can happen." He gave a slight chuckle.

"The game…" Again Yugi had forgotten that everything in this world was originally designed as a game. He mused over Ryou's words with his gaming instincts humming underneath. "This place was created as a game for people in the real world to play… If someone got badly hurt while playing, the company could get in trouble for any repercussions on the person in the real world. They needed a way to prevent the players from getting seriously injured." He finished, and Ryou eyed him with a sudden awareness.

"That makes sense. But Yugi…" Silver hair fell into his eyes as he gazed down at the blanket half-covering him. "What happens if… someone dies…?"

The room filled with winter's chill.

* * *

Yugi stayed with Ryou for a short while longer before the silver-haired youth shooed him off, saying that the others had probably noticed his disappearance by now. Reluctantly Yugi left his friend and made his way back up the hallway. As he slipped back into the room where the others were, he caught the chocolate eyes of Fizdis, which flickered with apprehensive relief at his entry. Yugi flashed a quick smile to her before settling his back to the wall in order to align with the conversation. Tristan and Shimon seemed to be arguing back and forth over tactics for facing Haysheen's looming attack while Mai threw in crude ideas whenever allowed. Joey kept nodding or shaking his head, blonde locks dancing with the motion. Except for Fizdis they all seemed too involved to notice that he had left and returned. 

"What do you think, Yugi?" Joey asked him suddenly, snapping him from his observational state.

"Uh… I wasn't listening, truthfully."

"Ya' didn't have to be. What do you think we should do about this creep?" He motioned to the bed, where Yugi saw that a parchment had been laid. Taking a step forward he saw scratchy drawings of two castles and the details of the land in between. One of the castles was labeled HAYSHEEN in what resembled Joey's handwriting and a stick figure wearing a crown and blowing a raspberry had been drawn beneath it. Between the comical representation of the Emperor and the resistance was a river nearly perpendicular to the route Haysheen and his army would be taking the next day. An arch on the river told of a bridge. Eyes wielding an eagle's talons swept back and forth along the map while swirling on the winds of thought.

"Mai," his voice sounded suddenly, and she visibly flinched at the unexpected yet familiar steel in his words. "If you had to gauge your monsters' firepower, what would you mark it at?"

Wide-eyed, she stammered, "T-Two dragons' worth, plus my Harpie Lady."

"And you, Joey?"

"I have two warrior monsters and Red-Eyes."

Yugi hummed a reply and kept his eyes on the map. The anticipating stares of his fellow resistance members bore into his back. "Shimon," he asked out of nowhere again, "I have spoken with Ryou and he appears to be getting better. How long would you say until he recovers?"

"At least two days to be fully healed, maybe more, but he should be well enough to move around in one and could potentially fight should he need to."

"What's the status of our monsters after yesterday?"

"We gave all that needed it a Blue Medicine," Shimon told him. "Those that were defeated have been revived and treated as well."

"Good." /_And you, Mahado?_/ Yugi sent the thought to his ally's gem.

/_I am fine, Soulmaster. I assisted in the recovery of your other monsters as well. Magician of Faith was destroyed but she is doing well; I used some of my magic to correct your dragon's wing so the Blue Medicine would heal it better._/

/_Thank you, Mahado._/

"Yug', if you don't mind me asking, what's with all these questions?" inquired Joey.

Yugi considered him for a moment, then revealed his canines in a smirk.

"I think I have an idea…

* * *

Ryou was reclining against his pillow when Yugi returned. "Back already?" Yugi gave a curt nod, crossing the room with faint tapping from his boots. Ryou sat up when he saw the embers present in his gaze. They only smoldered for now, but he knew they would ignite with full force come the time of battle. Yugi's eyes focused on him. They caught the room's light in such a way that they almost looked reflective, like the eyes of a tiger. 

"Ryou. I'm not sure if Shimon told you, but Haysheen is sending his army to fight us not long from now."

"He told me," Ryou said quietly.

"I'm here to tell you of what lays ahead. I've come up with a plan that should counter the Emperor's tactics. In order for it to work we have to make as much distance as we can before their attack, which means leaving tonight. You are going to stay here."

"But Yugi! That's not right!" he cried. "I can fight too; I'm well enough now!"

"That's not the point. Shimon is going to stay here with you. Come dawn you both need to be ready to fight. The two of you have the task of keeping the enemy busy while we carry out our part of the plan. We'll send reinforcements back, should we be able to spare them."

Ryou sat in silence after that, dazed by Yugi's words. After several moments his deep eyes aligned with Yugi's. "What are you going to do?"

"Hopefully stop Haysheen before the attack can be made, but there are so many uncertainties in this plan that one never knows. That's why you two need to be ready." With that he turned and strode out of the room, the tail of his jacket waving like a hero's cape, and he left Ryou to fall back onto his bed.

* * *

Yugi descended through the castle until he reached the outside. The others accompanying him were waiting with their mounts already summoned and set to go. A flash of pink called Seiyaryu to the fore and Yugi started to attach the reins. 

"A little pink dragon?" asked Mai incredulously when she laid eyes upon it. "It hardly suits you, Yugi."

He ignored her for a moment while he clambered onto Seiyaryu's back. "It may be small and it may be pink," he said airily, "but it's strong and it suits me better than you might believe." Seiyaryu purred at Yugi's words, earning an affectionate pat to the neck. Just then the wind picked up and tugged at them, and at Yugi's signal they took off into the night.

Seiyaryu led the way through the air. Behind it Red-Eyes and Curse of Dragon flew, their great wings creating whooshes of air each time they flapped them. Gazelle and Uraby brought up the rear on the ground. It was cloudy with little light to guide them, save that of the glass sphere alive with flame around Yugi's neck. Its crimson light cast eerie shadows upon his face and peaked hair. To Joey, who was behind him, the light barely extended past the boundaries of his frame and blurred his edges until he looked like nothing more than a lone spirit fleeting in the night.

"Yug'?" His words stretched across the empty night air until they were thin and frail. "What's with that light? What is it?"

The only answer he got carried an ethereal echo: "Something special."

They had traveled for little over an hour, a third of the distance, when they came upon the river. Water rushed along in its bed a few hairs short of being rapids. It was too fast to be safely crossed. The resistance made a detour to the north where the bridge lay waiting. Gazelle crossed but Uraby remained rooted to the other side. "All right, Fizdis," said Yugi. "You know what to do." She nodded without a word. The others turned and continued toward their destination while Fizdis found a spot along the riverbank to hide.

After two more hours they came upon a hill that was almost a small mountain. They landed on it and decided to use it as shelter until dawn, for just on the other side the giant fortress of Enno was waiting.

* * *

Even before the sun had fully risen soldiers were amassed around the front gates of the fortress with their monsters. Perhaps thirty men were present, talking with each other or trying to get some rest before they set out. An hour after dawn the castle gates opened. A dozen more soldiers filed out first, and then _he_ stepped into the new sunlight. His robes were purple-gray, almost the color of his face, with a black cloak fastened at his shoulders. Here and there flashes of the gold adornments he wore stood out. Their glimmer did not suit his dark appearance. Indeed, he looked so worn and gray that one could almost believe he hadn't been exposed to sunlight in a number of years. Still, one thing he did not look was weak. He clenched his scepter in one hand while shrewd eyes scrutinized the forces before him. He wet his lips, and all the chatter among the men halted as he spoke. 

"The rebels have gone too far," Haysheen called, his voice like the throaty bellow of an alligator. "They have killed too many. Peace in our Empire has been destroyed at their hand. Here and now we must be the return stroke of their deeds: for all the chaos they have caused, we must wreak it back upon them. For all they have captured, we must reclaim. And for all they have killed–" Haysheen thrust the hand holding the scepter up into the sky, "–they must die!" Roars of agreement came from the crwth, monsters and soldiers alike.

The sound of a multi-voiced roar awakened the resistance members on the hill. Startled, they looked below to see what the ruckus was about. "Damn," said Joey as he rubbed the drowsiness from his eyes. "That's quite a war party."

"Quite," agreed Yugi.

Haysheen raised his hand so that he may once again address his troops. "Men, look to your higher officers to lead you to the rebels' stronghold. From there, _I myself_ shall be on the front lines!" Again the soldiers cheered. They gathered their monsters back into their gems. The officers Haysheen spoke of marched back and forth among the plethora of men and barked commands. Soon all of the soldiers had been arranged into neat rows on the road.

"Forward!" commanded the Emperor, and at once the army took off marching like a many-legged animal. Haysheen said something to a few of the extra soldiers that stayed with him with a wave of his hand. They dashed off, and a few minutes later produced a wagon-like carriage. One of the soldiers summoned a Dragon Seeker and began working to attach a harness to it. Haysheen climbed aboard the carriage with ease. The marching formation of soldiers was already out of sight. Yugi could only smirk.

"Of course, the all-powerful _Emperor_ gets a free ride at the back," he said with obvious disgust in his voice. "Perfect." Yugi motioned for the others to mount their monsters. Lithely he slipped onto Seiyaryu's back.

Once the Dragon Seeker was hooked up the spare soldiers clambered onto the front of the carriage. One of them grabbed the reigns and snapped them, "Ha!" yet just before the Dragon Seeker could take off the driver was thrown from his place by a pink blur. A dusky brown one seized the second passenger and a huge black one came down upon the Dragon Seeker. It screeched as pitch-dark flames engulfed it. Haysheen heard the noise and immediately made to get out of the carriage. "What is the meaning of this?" he huffed angrily.

He suddenly was face to face with the resistance leader.

"Haysheen," canines leered at him, "I believe you and I have business together."

* * *

Once it was light enough Fizdis poked her head up from behind a rock on the riverbank. She clambered up onto dry land, making sure that no one, particularly the enemy, was nearby. When she deemed it clear she summoned her dinosaurs. "Okay," she said to them. "You know what to do." 

King Rex released a breath of fire upon the bridge's supporting posts. Yugi had specifically told them _not_ to burn the entire bridge otherwise the Imperial army might see the smoke. For his plan to work, he said, the Empire needed to think that they still held all the cards. King Rex's flame merely blackened the wood and made it more fragile. Once finished he stepped aside and allowed Uraby and Megazowler to take over. Uraby lashed at the posts with his tail and splintered them. Without the supports the bridge was wobbly, easily toppled by a strong force such as Megazowler's ramming attack. With a great _crunch_ the wood shattered under the dinosaur's strong hide. Broken planks scattered into the rushing river below.

Fizdis patted Megazowler's head. "Good job. Now all we have to do is wait for the others to get here."

"You mean us?" Fizdis turned and saw Ryou and Shimon approaching from the west. Their dragons landed and Shimon helped Ryou ease off of his mount. "We left just a while a go," Ryou explained. "We figured the Imperial army would be on the move at sunrise. Have you seen them?"

Fizdis shook her head. "No, not yet. You're right though: they'll probably be here soon."

"Then it's a good thing we arrived." Shimon looked precariously to where the bridge had once stood. "It wouldn't be good if they had gotten here first and discovered you to be the bridge's destroyer." Fizdis laughed weakly. Ryou and Shimon called their monsters back to their gems and took cover beside her on the riverbank.

Meanwhile, the soldiers continued their march toward the rebels' current base. As they marched one lowly man at the front peeked over his shoulder. "S-Sir," he spoke to the officer in front of him, "where is the Emperor? Should he not be behind us?"

"He is behind us!" the officer snapped.

"Then why can't he be seen?" (2)

"Fool! There is distance between us, enough so that he cannot be seen from here."

Now quivering a bit at the officer's harshness, the soldier then asked, "Shouldn't we wait for him, then?"

"No, our orders are to keep going toward the rebels. Now fall back into rank and stay quiet!" With a gulp the soldier did as he was told.

They came upon the river. The sound it made rushing through its course was loud compared even to the din of the soldiers' footfalls. Though the force of its current was powerful, the army moved forward undaunted, until they saw that their means of passage was no longer there. "What is the meaning of this?" demanded the highest officer at the front of the group. "There was a bridge here! I'm sure of it!"

"Sir, look!" One of the men pointed to the riverbank. "There are broken planks, sir! Someone must have smashed the bridge!"

"The rebels!" screeched several men at once, and before any of them could act, Fizdis, Ryou, and Shimon leapt out of hiding.

"How thoughtful of you to notice!" said Ryou as Parrot Dragon released a gust of flame.

* * *

Joey and Tristan seized Haysheen roughly by the arms. Though he was slightly taller than both of them were he hadn't the strength to break from their grasp. He struggled weakly with a look of rage on his face. "Rebel dogs!" he snarled. "You dare show your hides to me!" 

"I'm enchanted to finally meet you face to face as well, _Your Majesty,_" replied Yugi, unaffected.

Haysheen did not take kindly to this, and growled fiercely. "Blasphemers! How dare you defy me!"

"So, now you're tired of being just the plain old _Emperor?_ You have to call yourself _God_ too?"

"I am closer to God than you'll ever be!" he snapped, spit flying from his mouth like a cornered beast.

"We'll see." Yugi's eyes narrowed, and the bloodied hue arose within them. "We're willing to let you live without _too much_ injury if you do two favors for us: call off your army's attack, and then surrender." Haysheen laughed haughtily.

"Fools! You pack of hounds could never make me – ahck!" Joey had suddenly twisted on Haysheen's arm and pulled it in such a way that put it into a bind. "My arm–!"

Yugi crossed his arms with a smirk. "Ah, yes, I forgot to mention that we don't appreciate being insulted when we have the upper hand." Haysheen made a feeble sound. If Joey moved his arm another inch it looked as though it would come right out of its socket. "Easy, Joey. We need him in one piece." Joey grumbled and returned the limb to its normal position. Haysheen huffed to replace his breath. He seemed older now than he had previously.

"Now let's try this again." Haysheen flashed his eyes upward to the demon's gaze Yugi gave him. "Surrender to us or you'll face pain much worse than that." Shooting helpless glances left and right that only helped to solidify the hopelessness of his situation, Haysheen ceased in his struggles. He glared spitefully at Yugi… and then bowed his head in submission. Yugi's smirk broadened. "Good, good." He stepped behind Haysheen and plucked the scepter he still clutched from his thin gray hand.

"Mai," Yugi held the object out to her, "go on your dragon and catch up to the army. They won't have made it farther than the river. Go and show them this, and they should surrender without too much resistance." She nodded. Taking the scepter in hand she climbed onto Curse of Dragon's back and took off. Once she was gone Yugi moved to the pile of ropes that had previously been a harness. He picked up a handful of rope and tossed the end of it to Tristan whom started tying Haysheen up. Joey let go once a few loops had been wound around their captive.

"Think Mai will make it in time?" Joey stepped up beside Yugi.

"Probably. She's fast, so she should get there before things get too serious," Yugi answered. Tristan had almost finished with Haysheen. He was just about ready to tie the knots when without warning Haysheen lashed out with his foot. The kick landed solidly on Tristan's leg and knocked him back. Yugi and Joey spun around to see the Emperor making a mad dash for the castle, the ropes slipping away from him as he ran.

"Haysheen's getting away! Don't let him escape!" Joey pulled Tristan back to his feet. The three of them chased after their prisoner, only to have the thick oaken doors of the castle slammed shut in their face. Joey didn't hesitate to call upon his monster.

"Flame Swordsman!" In a burst of red light the warrior appeared. Flames sizzled with visible heat waves around the edge of his sword. Flame Swordsman charged forward; the sword sliced through the door and left a charcoal-ringed hole. Joey recalled his monster and the three of them clambered through. Once inside they found a myriad of passageways taunting them with their shadowy depths.

"Split up!" Yugi cried. "Haysheen's in here somewhere; we need to find him!" Each of them tore down a different pathway in search of the Emperor.

* * *

Wheezing for breath after having run for so long, Haysheen finally found the chamber he was looking for and slipped inside. On the other side of the door was a staircase leading to the circular floor. Tables and desks were piled up with clutter: old books, bottles, boxes of trinkets… All of it a clever disguise. Anyone who came into this room would believe it to be reminiscent of a closet or basement that no one had entered for years. They would not suspect that there was a hidden room attached to this one. 

Against one wall hung a tattered and faded tapestry. Its burgundy and olive edges were fringed with patterns left by hungry moths. Smirking, Haysheen approached the cloth. It was nearly twice his height, covering the entire wall. He raised his arm and pushed the fabric aside to reveal a small rectangular cut in the wall. Haysheen entered and let the tapestry fall back to cover the entrance. There was a door with a lock that he bolted, just in case.

Haysheen then retreated to the only chair in the small room. Mentally he laughed at the rebels now combing the castle for him. A moment later the voice in his head forced him to reconsider: as he looked around the hideaway he had confined himself to Haysheen realized that even if the rebels didn't find him, they had already won. They had succeeded in getting the better of him, and Haysheen knew that would not bode well for his own future. Word would get out that he had been their prisoner. Already, the girl was on her way to declare it to the army. His subordinates would come to distrust his strength, even more so if they heard he had concealed himself instead of fighting! The rebels had taken the only thing that mattered to him, his status, away, even if they did not yet realize it.

"Curse you…" he muttered to himself at the mental image of the rebels' sickeningly confident leader. "I'll rip you apart for what you have done to me… My army… My empire…!"

The room was thrown into a wash of light. Phosphorescent green filled every inch of the tiny hideaway. Haysheen gave a startled cry as neon blue and blinding white joined the fray, twisting and writhing in one spot before him like snakes that snapped at each other's tails. They hissed with clashing light and heat, until each one bit down on another to form a loop wide enough for a man to enter, should he dare. Haysheen saw that where the loop started the blaze of green ceased to be a stifling blanket, and inside the color bent backwards into an endless tunnel. He could see nothing within it until something buzzed into view.

It was the outline of a person! Haysheen's mouth fell ajar at this discovery. Inherently, though, he knew something was off about this person. Every few seconds, as the image neared, it would buzz and sputter, blinking rapidly in and out of view before stabilizing itself again. The Emperor had no idea what to make of the thing coming towards him through the tunnel forged of light. It drew near, stopping just inside the wreath of white and neon blue, and spoke to him with blackened words.

"You needn't worry about _that_, your Majesty."

* * *

Ryou, Fizdis, and Shimon harrowed the Imperial army. They obliterated nearly a third of the men with fire and fangs before any monsters could even be summoned. Then, once the Imperial soldiers finally overcame their shock to counterattack, a battle arose much like the one the previous day. Flames and roars crowded the air beside the thundering river as monsters attacked one another. 

"Yes!" cried Fizdis as she watched King Rex destroy one of the Imperial monsters. For being so vastly outnumbered, the resistance was actually faring well. Fizdis turned and spied one of the Imperial soldiers standing a distance in front of her. "Go, Uraby!" she called. Uraby hissed and took off running on bandy legs. Jaws brandishing rows of dagger-teeth aimed for the soldier. Fizdis closed her eyes in preparation for the impact, yet as she waited there came none. Uraby skidded to a halt and sent up clouds of dust. She opened her eyes, and looking around saw that their target had vanished. "Was it an illusion?" she wondered aloud.

It was not. All around the battlefield, the Imperial men and monsters were disappearing in bursts of phosphorescent green light. Soon they had all gone, leaving only the resistance members on the riverbank. They stood or hung in the air in a dazed silence. After a few moments Parrot Dragon settled on the ground next to Uraby. "What just happened?" asked Ryou. Fizdis could only shake her head slowly.

"Cavalry's here!" a voice suddenly yelled. They turned to see Mai fast approaching atop Curse of Dragon. "Stop the fight, we've got the… Emperor…" she trailed off when she saw the three of them and their monsters standing idly in the field. "Hey, where's the army?" Curse of Dragon landed and she jumped off. "Aren't you guys supposed to be fighting them?"

"We were…" Fizdis trailed off.

"Where'd they go?"

Shimon shook his head. "They simply disappeared."

Before Mai could ask any more questions a huge explosion sounded from across the river. They whirled around; the sky was black with smoke and flecked with embers. A huge mass of shadows was sweeping across the land, and was headed right for them! Every few moments there was an explosion followed by a great cloud of earth thrust into the air. Whatever the shadows were, they had firepower.

"Oh no! We're being attacked from behind by an unknown enemy!" Fizdis cried.

"What?" the others said at once.

"How is that possible?" Shimon said incredulously. "Our intelligence didn't report any forces behind us!"

"Could it be the Imperial forces?" asked Mai.

"No…" Ryou said, his voice grave. "Those aren't just any soldiers… they're demons." The four of them stared at the nearing shadows. Now that they looked, they realized that the collective mass of darkness was made of smaller shapes, each one's form distorted by the shimmering layers of shadow that veiled them like heat waves. However, even though they could not be clearly seen, it could still be discerned that these things were not human. They were pitch-black, stormy gray, and purple; their eyes shone with evil rays; and behind some of them, great triangular wings or the twisting shapes of tails could be made out through the distortion. All of them marched forward with a steady pace, neither too fast nor slow. They didn't need to charge on the resistance. They knew that once they got close enough, anything in their way would be destroyed.

"Lord Yugi is not here to give the order, but we still must retreat for now! We'll be massacred if we stay here!" Shimon called back his monsters and Kaiser Dragon took off quickly.

"Fizdis, hon', come with me," Mai said. "You'll be safer from those things in the air." Fizdis nodded weakly. Mai scooted forward on Curse of Dragon's back to make room. Once she was on he took off with a screech.

"Th-Thank you, Mai," Fizdis mumbled against her back. Mai urged Curse of Dragon to fly faster. As fast as they could they zoomed towards Enno castle.

* * *

Yugi, Joey, and Tristan ran through the castle searching for the Emperor, yet they found no trace of him. The three met back up in the entryway, all of them out of breath. 

"You don't think he got out of the castle somehow, do ya'?" asked Joey between pants.

Tristan shook his head. "How could he? He'd have to have gotten around us to do that."

"There must be something we missed," Yugi said. "We have to keep looking." The others murmured their agreement. He was about to suggest a different pattern of search when acid poured over him. An electrifying pain came out of thin air to seize his heart in its grasp; it truly was like acid, for even though it targeted his heart it ate through his entire body and made even his skin burn. His yell was equally surprised, equally pained. Like one suffering from cold he gripped his elbows so tightly his fingernails threatened to pierce his jacket. The stone wall behind him supported his form as he fell back against it.

"YUGI!" both Joey and Tristan hollered at the same time.

"Yug', what's wrong?" asked Joey frantically.

Yugi couldn't answer him immediately, for he feared that if he opened his mouth he would cry out again. He shuddered through a particularly fierce throb before throwing out quickly, "I don't know! This – _ahgh!_ – this came out of nowhere!"

As Yugi continued to shoulder this unknown force Tristan had a revelation. "Yugi, what if this is magic again?"

Joey looked at him quizzically though with fear for his friend still plainly on his face. "Huh? Why would something like that be hurting Yugi and not us?"

"Apparently Yugi's incredibly sensitive to magic. The last time we came across some, his reaction was pretty violent, but not enough to actually _hurt_ him."

"Wow." The blonde eyed Yugi's shudders thoughtfully. "You make it sound like he's allergic to it. If that's the case, then I guess I'm glad I can't feel any of it."

"You have no idea," Yugi said darkly. He had one eye open and both boys standing with him saw it misted with green.

"Um, Yug'… did you know that your eyes are glowing?"

"Quite frankly, no. I'm too busy standing here, feeling like I'm on fire." He winced as another throb overtook him. "But I think it's starting to subside now. It's not as bad anymore."

Tristan looked around the expanse of the hallway they stood in. "What caused it, I wonder? There isn't anyone here." At his words, Yugi's eyes widened suddenly.

"_Haysheen_. He's the only other person in the castle. The magic has to be coming from wherever he is!" The acid had now faded enough so that he no longer required the wall for support.

"Well, that's great – but we still don't know where he is," Joey replied.

Yugi shook his head. "Yes, we do." Before the others could say anything more he took off running for the nearest corridor.

"Yug'! What're you doing?" hollered Joey, chasing after him.

"I can sense the location of the magic!" he called over his shoulder. "It has to be where Haysheen is!" Yugi suddenly made a sharp turn to the right, and Joey and Tristan nearly blew by it. They skidded to a halt at the intersection before bolting after him.

"This place is a maze," huffed Tristan to Joey. "I guess if Yugi knows where he's going, we'd better follow him, or else we'll get lost." Louder he said, "Lead the way, Yugi! We're right behind you!" Yugi flashed a grin over his shoulder at them, took a path on the left, and kept moving closer to the source of the acid magic.

He stopped in front of a door after a few minutes. Once Joey and Tristan had caught up with him they entered the room. It was filled with dusty piles of books and other clutter. Tristan looked around the room, frowning. "But I already looked in here," he said. "Yugi, are you sure it's coming from _this_ room?"

"There's not even anybody here," Joey pointed out.

Yugi paced over to the tapestry against the wall. He smirked, and without turning around he said to them, "That's where you'd be wrong." He pushed aside the covering of fabric to reveal the door beneath. Green light was shining from the gap under it. "The source of the magic is on the other side of this door."

Both boys' jaws dropped open. "Whoa… You're good, Yugi," said Joey. He walked up and pushed against the door. "It's locked!"

"Wait, do you hear voices?" asked Tristan. They listened and indeed heard the muffled sounds of people talking. Unanimously they fell silent in order to hear the conversation beyond the planks against their ears.

* * *

Haysheen looked at the flickering being with incredulity and fear in every line of his thin gray face. What he had identified as a person had slick hair colored of earth that fell heavily to his shoulders. He had a beard the same color, with perfectly straight bristles so micromanaged that not one of them stood longer than the other. His skin was tanned, not darkly so, and not by means of the sun. It looked to be a combination of natural skin tone and oil. The whites of the being's eyes stood out against this darkened visage; his irises were very small, black in essence, making the white even more haunting. Haysheen wished this _person_ would blink, or squint a little, or even look away – or else stop staring at him with those eyes. 

"To not say anything to a guest is rude, even for the Emperor," the being insisted. "Dante himself considered treachery to guests a sin worth an eternity at the bottom of the pit of Hell." (1)

Those _eyes_ snapped with the ferocity of something beyond human, and so Haysheen forced out an inquiry. "Who… _What_ are you?"

"It doesn't matter, your Majesty." The being took a step so that he was partially outside of the twisting green tunnel. Something in the back of Haysheen's mind whimpered at the tone of amusement in his voice. "The important thing," he continued, raising a finger to weave an almost-curl into his hair, "is that I am the one who will deliver you from your enemies." Haysheen quivered at the undulating words and saw the being's eyes flicker; he was enjoying the reaction he had on the Emperor. Not wanting to play into the being's hand, Haysheen drew himself up intending to put a dent in his smugness with a bit of his own temper.

"Another insolent… Ah, never mind," Haysheen snapped. "So, you say you can save my Empire, do you?"

The Emperor's tactic of intimidation only seemed to fuel the magnetic white in the being's eyes. "Yes, I can." His voice slid out as an almost demented hiss of anticipation. "I will defeat the resistance army that is chasing you."

The being's tone of voice should have utterly frightened him, yet Haysheen couldn't help but feel relief at his words. "Good!" He threw up his arms and let himself fall back into the chair he had been sitting in. "Now I can rest knowing that I'll be safe!"

"Hmmm… I wouldn't be too sure of that." The being stepped clear of the crackling wreath, now fully within the room. His height was just that of the Emperor's, although it wasn't noticeable to Haysheen at the moment as his eyes were now locked on the being's. The white was now less white, and more an empty void with black hovering just above an eternal abyss.

He pressed himself against the back of the chair. "What?" Haysheen spluttered. The gray of his face was as white as the being's eyes had been.

"The Empire and the army no longer belong to you, your Majesty." Again the voice was playful over the dark obsession, reveling in the Emperor's fear.

Haysheen tried as best he could to muster another attempt at intimidation. "Just what does that mean? Explain yourse…GUAARGH!" His words were cut off, thrown into a piercing cry, as the being's eyes of emptiness lit with a light as bright as that of the wreath surrounding him. An invisible force had seized Haysheen's body, wracking it with pain, and at the same time the Emperor could not move. "GYAAAAAH! My body! My body!" he screamed, yet remained motionless in his chair.

"You are nothing more than my programmed puppet. You've served me well." The being paced forward with a predator's stalk. Towering above Haysheen, his face angled downward so that no light hit it from the wash of green. The only things visible were those inhuman, glowing, soul-piercing _eyes_. "But you've outlived your usefulness," the being said. His words drew all heat from Haysheen's paralyzed frame. "Good work, your Majesty."

The being snapped. Haysheen was cast into a swarm of electricity: ebony, blue, and venomous purple serpents. As a pack of hounds tears at a carcass, so did they bite and rip pieces of his flesh. His scream froze in his petrified throat, eyes tilting back into his head. The swarm of ravenous serpents smothered the ever-diminishing Emperor, until nothing at all was visible beneath their varicolored coils. They ate through his form down to the chair. Then, hissing from their bloodstained mouths, they slithered back into the tunnel behind the being.

"I always erase my unwanted programs so that they don't come back and cause trouble later," he mused to himself as he watched them go. To both his serpents and the departed Emperor he said, "Bye-bye now."

In lieu of the Emperor's silent death, another voice screamed with agony.

When the light shining under the door changed from green to shadow hues a tidal wave of magical energy exploded from the room. The force of it was so strong that it _physically_ slammed into Yugi and sent him careening to the floor. To Joey and Tristan it looked as though he had been jerked back by something, but before they could even begin to wonder what had caused it his howl of pain collided with their ears. This was a pain that dwarfed the acid magic from before. Hundreds, maybe thousands of fangs pierced his flesh, tearing at every inch of his body. Both the agony and the crushing waves of magic paralyzed him where he lay. He wished death upon himself a thousand times over; the fangs tore endlessly yet never once took from his body. He felt the pain of being devoured without actually being so. Joey and Tristan whirled around to find Yugi shuddering uncontrollably, his face livid. Then they saw his eyes, thrown open wide with the pain. The magic had wiped his irises completely blank. They were a solid, empty, blinded white. Whether Yugi could see either of them or not he screamed with the fangs that ravaged him.

Both Tristan and Joey swore at once. "Damn it! It's that damn magic again!" Tristan said frantically.

"We've got to make it stop!" Joey cried. "This'll kill him if we don't!" He spun around to face the door guarding the hidden room. "On three! One… two… _now!_" With Tristan by his side he charged at the door full force. Their shoulders made contact and the door creaked dangerously. They backed away to charge again. "_Now!_" The door cracked along the hinges. "_Now!_" With a final _crunch_ the wooden barrier fell. They were blinded by the wash of green and shadowy light that spilled from the opening, yet they could still see the outline of someone standing in the room…

The being turned, saw Joey and Tristan standing frozen in the doorway and Yugi lying just beyond, and laughed. "Hah ha ha ha ha ha ha! Sorry to surprise you all!" He looked obsessively with piercing eyes at Yugi's convoluted form. "My, my, it looks as though your friend caught the after-waves of my deletion spell. He suffers with the same pain as my victim did." He laughed again as Yugi let loose another agonized cry.

"Whatever the hell you're doing to Yugi, stop now!" Tristan declared threateningly.

"Don't get worked up. The effects will fade eventually, though probably not soon enough for him: I only just finished erasing my victim."

"You _killed_ someone? You murderer!" hollered Joey. "Just who the hell did you think deserved it?"

The being smirked at Joey's attempt to scorn him. "Why, the _Emperor_, of course," he hissed, eyes wide and glaring. Joey paled at the inhuman sound of his words. The being went on, waving his hand casually through the air, "Admittedly it was a horrible way to go… eaten alive, unable to move or speak at all…" He clicked his tongue. "So dreadful."

The blonde swallowed, and his voice was barely above a breath: "And Yug's feeling it all…" A great gale of flame roared in his eyes. "_Who the hell are you?_"

"Not that it matters much to you, but my name is Scott Irvine," the being said airily. "All you need to know is that I'm the one holding your life in my hands. You see, _I'm_ the one that created this world. How's that working out for you, by the way?" Scott's voice took on an almost conversational tone that failed to hide the maliciousness in his eyes. "Anyone want to give me feedback on the Kingdom?"

Tristan took a half-step forward. "So you're the one who trapped us all in here!"

A smirk that mirrored the overwhelming white of Scott's eyes crossed his lips. "That's right. But I don't expect a feeble-minded bunch like you to understand my grand plan."

"Feeble-minded!" Joey growled. Scott simply tipped his head back and laughed.

"Yes, but I think that's enough with the talking. Shouldn't you be getting ready to run away?" He ran a finger through his slick beard. "While you stand here asking dim-witted questions, your only escape route is being cut off. My army is already destroying what's left of your forces."

Joey's eyes widened. "Mai… The others!"

"Not only that, but I think the longer your friend stays here the closer his simulation of death will come to a reality."

Joey looked helplessly between Yugi's shudders and Scott. Defeated, he turned to Tristan. "Come on, we have to get out of here!"

Scott watched them scoop up the paralyzed Yugi with laughter ringing in his throat. "That's right, run away. It will make the hunt so much more fun."

Once Yugi was on his back, Joey turned over his shoulder and said darkly, "This ain't over yet." Then he and Tristan ran from the room.

* * *

They made it outside and Joey immediately summoned his Red-Eyes. He pulled Yugi on along with himself. Getting away from Scott and the point of the magic's origin had not helped Yugi's condition. His tremors had not lessened in the slightest, though he had at least reined in his voice, and his eyes were still utterly blank. He still seemed not to be able to see Joey or Tristan nor hear them when they called his name. Joey pulled him on in front and held him steady with one arm while the other clung to black scales. Tristan summoned Gazelle and they were about to take off when they heard voices hollering. 

"Joey! Tristan!" Shimon cried. "We must make haste; we are being followed by darkness itself!" Though they had made a little headway, smoke and fire were still visible like the foul trail of death in the sky behind them.

"Scott's forces," Joey and Tristan said simultaneously to each other.

"Where is Lord Yugi?"

He didn't need to answer, as everyone now noticed him in front of Joey, still shuddering. Ryou took one look and suddenly his breathing became forced. He swayed a bit, gripping Parrot Dragon's feathers, shivers beginning to rise in his arms. White-hot pinpricks like needles entering his skin swept over his frame. "_Oh_…" Tristan turned at the sound and saw Ryou's eyes fading away to blend in with his pale skin and hair.

"Crap! I forgot that Ryou can feel magic too!" Ryou's eyes turned completely white. He slid forward as the needles thickened and punctured deeper; they struck his nerves to create spasmodic motions akin to Yugi's. Parrot Dragon squawked frantically and dipped forward so her rider would not fall.

"Aw, don't tell me – Tristan, why didn't you tell me Ryou was affected by this stuff!" demanded Joey. "I would've kept Yug' away from him if I knew!"

"What's _wrong_ with them?" asked Mai just before an explosion sounded from the approaching army in the west.

"There's no time to explain!" Joey surveyed the situation. "Okay everyone, time for a game of musical monsters." Since he couldn't hold on by himself, Ryou was moved to Curse of Dragon with Mai. Tristan took his place on Parrot Dragon, as she was faster than Gazelle, and from Yugi's jewel Joey summoned Seiyaryu for Fizdis.

Fizdis's eyes were fixed on the blackened horizon. "Where can we run to escape them?"

"Uruvie Canyon," Joey answered. "I've been there before. We might be able to lose them in the mountains. Now come on!" Red-Eyes roared and took to the skies on great ebony wings. So, the resistance's first encounter with the man responsible for their entrapment ended on the fleeting song of retreat.

* * *

Notes: 

(One) – Somebody's been reading Dante's Inferno.

(Two) - Must... resist... Monty Python reference...

SC: It's done! Whoo!

I believe y'all, the wonderful Readers, deserve an explanation as to why I caused so much trouble by adding this to an existing chapter instead of making it a separate one like I did the others. In truth, it's a really selfish reason. You see, after this chapter, the next levels in the game are "Refugees," "Break Free," and then "Counterattack." I have plot ideas for all three, but the one for "Break Free" won't work unless it comes _after_ my version of "Counterattack." If I do it before, the great plot I have won't work. So, that means there are only two chapters until the one I've been ranting about for years and years arrives. That also means that when it does arrive it will be chapter thirteen. Thirteen is my favorite number in the world, ever. Once I realized this, I absolutely _had_ to make "Counterattack" be chapter thirteen, since it (is/will be) my favorite chapter ever. So that's why I had to make this one huge Chapter of Death, so that "Counterattack" could be thirteen.

What a dumb reason. I guess I'm entitled to it, though.

Happy oh-six, everybody. Help start the New Year off with a hefty round of reviews. My story stats say that I have over five hundred hits to this story. So how come I have so few reviews? I'm not complaining; I appreciate all the reviews I get. It's just nice to know that people are reading it AND enjoying it. And reviews don't have to be of the "Wow this is great" type. Actually, I'd really appreciate some critique on this every so often. It would help me make it better for you guys, so the effort you put into reviews goes right back to you. Also, if you review, I can thank you for reading the story by name instead of with this incoming generic statement: thanks so much for reading the story!

I think I'll shut up now.


	12. Refugees

SC: Hello again, y'all. I want to apologize again for causing trouble with the last chapter… for such superficial reasons… But hey. I promise to make up for it. (thumbs-up sign)

And for all you pairing fans, heads up.

**Refugees**

_Emperor Haysheen has been erased, and the Empire is now in Scott's hands. Scott's army, which appeared out of nowhere, inflicted heavy damage on the resistance, forcing them to retreat. Scott continued to give chase, inflicting still more damage on Yugi and his army as they fled. During their retreat, they learn that a group of refugees is being chased by Imperial forces in Uruvie Canyon. They also learn that Téa is the one trying to protect the refugees against overwhelming odds. The resistance rushes to the aid of Téa, only to end up surrounded by the Imperial units chasing them._

With darkness at their heels, the resistance flew at top speed. Atop Red-Eyes Joey led them towards Uruvie Canyon where the resistance could hide and hopefully lose their pursuers. The resistance dragons were no doubt getting worn out by traveling at top speed for so long, yet they had no choice but to press onward. To stop and rest meant to be caught. To be caught meant destruction.

After a painfully long amount of time had passed, the spell plaguing Yugi and Ryou finally wore off. They came out of it gradually, their shivers slowing to a halt and breath returning to them at its normal pace. Joey was the first to notice this as Yugi had been leaning against him the whole time. When he saw that Yugi looked more like normal he asked testily, "Yug'? Hey man, can you hear me now?"

"Barely." Yugi's answer shocked Joey, as he hadn't truly thought him capable of replying. "My ears have decided to start ringing with as much volume as possible."

"Are you all right?"

"Sore and tired, but fine."

"Are you sure? The way that looked it could have killed you–" Joey cut off quickly when he remembered that the spell had in fact been used for killing. He wasn't sure he wanted to remind Yugi of what he just finished feeling.

"Trust me, I'll live. Although, I've decided that I never, _ever_ want to die by being eaten alive." The tone of his voice was almost humorous. Joey was amazed that Yugi could recover from something so racking as that so quickly, even make jokes about it! Yugi straightened up, no longer leaning against Joey for support, and the blonde could see that his eyes were returning to normal. However, a white mist still clouded his irises, making them appear blurry. Yugi let his gaze wander to the landscape whizzing past. "Where are we?"

"North of Enno, heading for Uruvie Canyon. Why?" Joey glanced critically at Yugi's enshrouded eyes. "Can you see with your eyes like that?"

"If one giant blur constitutes 'seeing,' then yes." He then leaned back to peer over Joey's shoulder. "Are the demons still behind us?"

"Yes – wait, how do you know about them? You were still paralyzed by the spell."

Yugi chuckled lightly. "Paralyzed, yes, but not deaf. I could still hear what was going on. I just couldn't answer because my mouth wouldn't move."

"So then… you know about Scott?" Joey asked. Yugi's eyes narrowed swiftly.

"Yes, I do." An aura of heated anger radiated from him, strong enough that Joey could feel it like a stifling wall of stagnant air. He recognized it as the same loathing Yugi had shown for Pegasus and Malik in the real world before.

"Lord Yugi!" Shimon appeared beside them. "You have finally recovered!"

"Mostly."

"As I'm sure Joey has told you, we are currently running to a hideaway in Uruvie Canyon. However, I have knowledge of a small band of rebels hidden there as well. They have only one marshal and lack enough force to defend themselves from an assault by these creatures." At these words Yugi's eyes widened.

"So we're leading the enemy straight to them? They'll be killed!"

"A loss we cannot help, Lord Yugi."

"We have to do something! Warn them, bring them with us at least into hiding – we cannot simply leave them to die!"

"Lord Yugi, we are running for our lives as it is. To stop and help these people would be like lying down in front of the enemy's path. We'd be subject to their full assault." Even as he spoke the voice of reason Shimon could sense that his words would not scratch Yugi's already set mind.

"A full assault that _they_ are already subject to. If we do not help them, they will die. If we do, they still might be killed, and we run the risk of dying with them, but they will at least be given a chance to survive, however small. That chance is worth any amount of risk we put ourselves into."

"But Lord Yugi–"

"No." Joey thrust out the word forcibly, deliberately. "I'm with Yug'. One chance is all we need. Besides, if Yugi's the head of this army, I don't see why you're questioning him." After that Shimon fell into a flustered silence.

Yugi picked up Joey's lead. "Tell the others of the plan. We'll need them aware so we can move as quickly as possible." Not wanting to face more of Joey's castigating words, Shimon steered Kaiser Dragon away. With a sigh Yugi turned back to face Joey.

"Always a gambler, eh? Taking chances with Fate, never wasting a thought on the consequences?"

Joey grinned. "Hey, you know me. As long as there's dice, I'll bet my life on 'em. Plus, with you here, I'd say the odds are at their greatest. When have you – or even Lady Luck – ever let me down before? You're almost something like Fate yourself, Yugi."

Up until this point Yugi had been grinning along with the conversation, but now that expression vanished. "Fate… itself?"

"Yeah. I mean, whatever side you're on is always victorious. Think about it: you against Pegasus, against Malik, and now against the Empire. We may be on the run, but we still haven't technically _lost_ a battle yet. You've been the deciding factor in almost every move we've made, either though battle itself or through strategy…"

Yugi wasn't listening at this point. A dense, icy liquid churned in his stomach. Fate… It was a topic he had already pondered. So fickle a creature, to grant glory and cruelty, wealth and poverty, life… and death. Everyone fell to this deity's decisions. Could he, Yugi, really control such forces? He immediately knew the answer to be no, but something inside him squirmed with apprehension. So many times had he narrowly escaped death and disaster; with such successes under his belt, his contract with Fate did seem unnaturally unbalanced. The fact that Joey was so confident in his abilities to survive and be able to change an event's outcome unsettled Yugi. If he had any sort of connection at all with Fate, then it was telling him that maybe all of this confidence in his "contract" was futile. Maybe, in a time soon proclaimed, the divine forces so keen on helping him would tilt the scale away, and he would fail.

Maybe… Fate's golden-spun gaze would look upon him daggers.

"Lord Yugi!" The words shook him free of his reverie. Yugi looked to Shimon, all his familiar sharpness present in his eyes. "The others agree full-heartedly to your… decision…"

Yugi sensed the underlying emotion in Shimon's statement. "Yet you do not."

"Forgive me, Lord Yugi. I – I simply cannot feel the same fervor that you do in aiding these refugees. Your courageous spirit stirs the others' strong hearts, but myself… My heart is weak."

"That isn't true. Strength of the heart cannot be determined by one decision, one event in a life of thousands. Your heart is not any weaker than the others; you're just much less of a reckless fool than everyone else." He said the statement with utmost seriousness, but that didn't stop Joey from whacking him on the shoulder. "…Myself included," he amended, and felt Joey's grin warm his back.

Shimon stared in silence. After a long moment he said, "Lord Yugi… Though my mind may have doubts, my heart shall follow your every lead…"

Yugi had no reply. He turned back to the blur of land in front of him. Slight annoyance tickled his temples at the fact that his eyes still weren't completely healed. His vision was too foggy to see anything more than shapes and shadows. Color was next to pointless: he saw the blue of the sky and a murky, reddish brown hue in scattered bits of the landscape, but anything other than that was a wash of gray. He could just make out the shadows cast by the many hillocks below and a ridge of sharper, more mountain-like hills on the horizon.

"The refugee hideout is just on the other side of those hills," Shimon informed them all.

"And our hiding spot ain't much farther from there." Joey looked to Yugi. "We're all behind you. You still up for it?"

A deep chuckle sounded from his friend. Without turning back he answered, "You shouldn't have to ask that question."

What was once the horizon passed beneath them. Now they were beyond the smudgy gray peaks and flying over a valley. In the center was a darker geometric shape that stood out from the lighter grays of the grass around it. Just as Shimon had predicted, there was the refugees' base. What hadn't been predicted were the deafening blasts that surrounded it.

Flashes of light, fire, and smoke blazed at sporadic intervals around the structure. To Yugi the flames were colored like blood that oozed a tainted trail over the base. He could hear roars and see many swift blurs moving about but was unable to decipher anything else. He didn't need to, as Shimon suddenly yelled, "Imperial soldiers! They're attacking the base!"

"What? Why're they here?" demanded Joey. "The Emperor was killed! Shouldn't the army be gone?"

"He must have sent the order before his death," Shimon explained. "These soldiers haven't heard that their leader is dead."

Yugi's grip on Red-Eyes's neck tightened. "You said they only had one marshal, didn't you Shimon?"

"Six against one… they don't stand a chance with those odds!" Yugi full-heartedly agreed with Joey, but before he could call for an attack on the Imperial soldiers, he heard shouts from the battle below.

"_Hyee hyee – we got 'er now!_"

"_Yew ain't gettin' away this time!_"

"_Shut your traps, monkeys!_"

The last voice was different, not like the scraping calls of the Imperial soldiers. Firstly, it had been female. Secondly, it held the valiant glow of someone fighting from her heart fringed with the tremors of fatigue. The refugees' only marshal was on her last legs, facing death… but that wasn't what made Yugi's heart start pounding.

"We'll just have to even the fight!" Joey hollered, his eyes narrowing with Red-Eyes's smoky growl. "Go, Red-Eyes! Black Fire Bullet!" Red-Eyes launched a sphere of black and red flames that left a comet's tail in the sky. It impacted on an Imperial monster, causing it to explode in a rush of starving flames.

"Everyone, call your monsters to fight!" Yugi cried, a strange desperation, almost panic, in his voice. "Fight off the enemy!" Red-Eyes launched another blast at the battle below. It missed its target but caused the monster to pull back from the walls of the base.

"RAAAWHL!" Yugi's gaze snapped to the right with the roar. Piercing sapphire eyes blazed at him from a blur flying beside him. Seiyaryu's back was empty; it had deposited Fizdis on the ground so she could call Uraby. Without a moment's hesitation Yugi swung his leg from around Red-Eyes's neck and jumped. Seiyaryu caught him with grace. Yugi seized the reins and drove an order for attack in with his heels, his eyes shimmering.

"Shining plasma!" His forceful call for attack nearly matched his dragon's roar. A hailstorm of silver fireballs rained on the enemy with the viciousness of a swarm of bees. Yugi couldn't see what he was aiming at, and he didn't care. He knew Seiyaryu's attacks would seek out and chase the Imperial monsters on their own.

He heard dark laughter over the sounds of battle. Listening intently, he tried to steer Seiyaryu to its source, for he knew that was his target.

"HAH HA HA HA HA! You gave me a pretty good run, little girl, I'll give you that!" The owner of the voice was the leader of this unit of the Imperial army. He had the refugee marshal cornered against the burning wall of the hideout.

"There's nowhere left to run…" she murmured. Her monsters had fallen long before. She closed her eyes in acceptance of her fate as the Imperial officer readied his killing strike.

Yugi was _not_ about to let that happen.

An arrow-tipped pink blur swooped upon the Imperial officer. Chains of silver fireballs ate up his monsters before they could do a thing to aid their master. The officer scraped along the ground on his back, throwing up clouds of dust to join the thick layer of smoke in the air. Before he had even fully stopped moving Yugi had him pinned and had seized his ornate collar. "Don't you _dare_," he growled, "lay a hand on Téa."

"Yugi!" Téa exclaimed, utterly shocked by his presence. To her he had appeared from the sky like a guardian angel. Yugi felt inwardly grateful that he had made it in time yet did not let it show past the anger on his face.

The officer shivered beneath his gaze. "I-I…" he stammered, "I-I didn't–"

A glare like an amethyst blade cut into him; "Just die." /_Mahado!_/

Mahado heard the summon and sensed his master's intentions. In a blaze of violet light Mahado appeared with a look to match Yugi's on his face. Téa gasped audibly; even she could tell why Yugi had called forth the magician. Mahado granted Yugi a few seconds to pull away from the Imperial officer before loosing a torrent of blackened death upon him. Yugi averted his gaze quickly, not wanting to see the deed. After a few moments he felt the silent signal from Mahado that it was done.

"Yugi, how…?" Téa began, but Yugi's bladed words, armed for battle, cut her off.

"Never mind that now! We came to help!" Seiyaryu was instantly back at his side and he took off to rejoin the fight. Stunned, Téa could only watch.

A hatred unlike anything he had previously unleashed in this realm commanded Yugi's eyes. He would not allow for the mistreatment of Téa. No, _all_ of them would be destroyed for it.

/_Mahado!_/ His voice carried his fierce emotional fervor. Mahado felt his own strength grow from the fires in Yugi's heart. /_Let not live one monster to attack us. Should their Imperial masters resist us further, let them meet the same fate._/ Mahado's staff filled with violet-stained vermilion. Twisting, howling, fierce ebony winds ripped across the valley, snuffing the flames still eating the building and dissolving all of the enemy forces. As it turns out, none of the Imperial soldiers had submitted to the resistance. Everything that was considered the enemy was gone in a matter of seconds.

Seiyaryu flew back towards Téa. While it was still in the air Yugi leapt off and landed on the ground a few feet away. Immediately, without a moment's thought other than to assure her safety, he ran to her.

"Téa! Are you all right? Téa!" he called to her over the shock-induced dullness in her eyes.

"Yugi…" she breathed. He stared at her. For some reason she seemed less blurry than everything else around her did. The heavenly blue of her eyes was the only color on her but it sufficed to freeze Yugi where he stood. She was looking back at him, staring, with a mixture of fear and relief swimming in her gaze. As he stood enraptured by her eyes he noticed tears welling up in them. Viscerally something between them clicked, and suddenly the distance between them was nothing.

"Yugi! I'm so glad I found you!" Téa half-sobbed into his shoulder. "I was worried you might have been hurt – even all the time I was with Joey, I never heard anything from you… I thought… I thought you might be…"

"Shhh," he whispered past her sobs. "It's all right. I'm fine. But what about you? I hadn't heard anything about you, even from Joey or Tristan. Are you injured?" Téa sniffed and shook her head numbly. Just hearing his voice again after so long filled her with relief. "You're safe now," he soothed. "Nothing shall ever touch you again." The both of them fell silent after that, ensorcelled by each other's touch.

Joey's Red-Eyes had been about to launch another fireball when the dark wind had melted his target. The blonde pulled his mount back and flew to where he had seen Yugi rush off. He saw his friend standing with Téa, and a smirk took over his face. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" he asked as Red-Eyes landed. This caused both Téa and Yugi to realize that they had their arms wrapped around each other in a hug. They jumped away from each other as though each was engulfed in flames.

"N-No!" they denied simultaneously. Joey's grin only grew wider at the red hues creeping up their faces.

"Are you sure? 'Cause I can leave if you want to keep going with that–"

"Téa!" Mai's bright voice interrupted as she flew near, fortunately for Joey halting Yugi's attempt to murder him on the spot. "You're all right!"

"Mai!" Téa replied just as brightly. "Yeah, I'm fine! What about you? It's been so long since I've seen you…" The two began chatting it up as though they had been best friends for years. Yugi was surprised that the two were acting so friendly. In the real world, Téa had always been a little touchy around Mai, but he supposed that the two had already spent some time together here in the virtual world and had worked through their problems.

"Lord Yugi!" Shimon finally descended on the scene. "Scott's forces are almost here! If they get here we've had it! Now that we've rescued Miss Téa and the other refugees, we need to move our entire force into the Craw-Valley!" His words restored the battle-hardened expression to Yugi's eyes. Celebrating this reunion would have to wait a bit longer.

"Téa!" he called to her, not harshly, but with that intentional edge that made even those close to him feel the strike of his words. "You are defending a group of rebels here in the canyon, are you not?"

"Yes… but when we heard of an attack on our base by the Empire, I sent them away for safety. I'm the only one here now."

"Where did you send them?"

"There's an offset of this canyon a little way's west of here. There are lots of caves and crevices there, deep ones, where they can hide from the Imperial soldiers if they start a search…"

"That's the Craw-Valley!" exclaimed Joey. "I know that place. I've used it as a hiding spot myself… It'd take ages for anyone to find us there."

Mai looked at him. "So the refugees we came to take with us are already there?"

"You came here for us? Why?" asked Téa.

Yugi turned behind him, where the black stain of Scott's demons was already seeping its way into the sky. "That's why. We're currently being followed by a huge army. We were coming here to escape them, but when we learned of your position we knew you'd be in their path too. They'll mow over anything in their way, and with only one marshal we knew you'd be flattened."

"If it's an army, can't you fight them?"

"You think we can win a fight against a hundred demons?" asked Joey darkly. His tone of chilling spite made Téa shiver. "I'd hardly call it an army so much as death itself."

/_Soulmaster, the darkness is about to enter the valley,_/ Mahado urged. /_Any more delay and we will be visible._/

/_Right._/ "Now is not the time for discussion. We need to get out of here _now_." Everyone nodded at Yugi's order, preparing his or her mounts to leave. "Joey, take the lead, since you know where we're going."

Once everyone was in the air, Yugi, Joey, and Tristan wasted no time in explaining all that they knew about Scott and his demon army to Téa. She shifted on Seiyaryu's back uneasily (she had no mount of her own, so Yugi rode with Joey on Red-Eyes) with every detail, until in the end she looked unnaturally pale, although that may have been due to her newfound disliking of high-speed flight.

"That damn Scott controls everything here! He built the damn place!" Joey spat out, keeping the many more colorful words he was thinking to himself. "He wiped out the Emperor like that. What's to say he can't do the same to us? Like, I don't know, maybe there's some computer programs somewhere with our names on 'em that he can just walk up to and delete!"

"Joey," Yugi said calmly. He had his eyes on Téa, whose expression had steadily worsened as Joey progressed in his speech. "That's enough. We understand what you're saying, but fear will only make things worse." Joey fell silent, though he still let slip another "Damn him" under his breath.

The entrance to the Craw-Valley lived up to its legendary status as a hideaway. A deep crack split the side of the canyon, a little more than the width of a person in diameter. Red-Eyes flew past it before Joey had time to announce it to the group. The blackness was still visible as a strip eating away at the horizon, smaller than it had been previously, but never losing its living, breathing presence. Sunset was near and it seemed to lose its pastel beauty to the rattling breath of the opposite sky. Casting fretful glances towards it every few seconds, the resistance members recalled their monsters and entered the crevice.

Craw-Valley was hardly a valley. The resistance moved single-file, Joey at the front, through the narrow path. Chilled slate walls brushed against their shoulders. The crack in the layers of rock extended to the sky to reveal the dying sunset. Whole minutes passed as they walked. Then, finally the walls began to slope away, curving outward so that the passage was wider where they walked and still just as narrow above them. It was fast becoming dark; Yugi switched places with Joey so the light from the orb could guide their way. The shadows it cast danced with misshapen glee.

All of a sudden, the walls fell away. They found themselves in a huge cave room. The ceiling still looked the same, bearing a single split, but the room beneath was so large the light from Yugi's orb barely touched the walls. Scarcely visible in the faint red light were numerous tunnels twisting away into the rock.

"Welcome to the Maze of Hell," Joey announced. The heavy air stifled his voice and made it flat. "Téa, I hope you know which way they went, because otherwise it'll be a few years before we find them."

"I-I do," she answered, her words frail behind their façade. "There's a pattern… They took paths according to everyone's dominant hand, starting with me and going from oldest to youngest." She pointed to the tunnel on their right, from which a stagnant breeze blew like a monster's breath. "Most everyone is right-handed, but two are left-handed which throws things a bit off."

With a grand flourish of his hand, Joey bowed and said, "Lead the way."

Téa stepped into the mouth-like opening, stalactites gleaming like bloodstained teeth in the red glow. As their source of light Yugi fell into step beside her. The others moved behind them, the sounds of their footfalls compressed by the weight of the rock. Their quiet voices jittered back and forth in conversation. Yugi felt that he should say something to Téa to break the uncomfortable silence emanating from her. When they had first found her she seemed happy enough, but after their explanation of Scott and Joey's proclamations of doom she had withdrawn into the haunted being now walking beside him, lost in thought. She was not taking this virtual realm well, he assessed, but he knew not what he could do to relieve her of her thoughts.

While the cave they traveled through was not cold per say, it was cool enough to notice the absence of heat. When Yugi caught sight of a few well-hidden shivers in Téa's shoulders he leapt on the excuse to speak. "Are you cold?" he asked her in his marble-smooth voice. Like spring water splashed upon her face, Yugi's roborant words seemed to lift her from her daze by their sound alone. She glanced at him, her dulled sapphire eyes still visibly veiled by her preoccupied mind, but beneath them there lay the reassuring glow of happiness that had sparked from his concern.

She looked away. "A little," she admitted. Here the trail split and she led them down the left fork. In the cool, slightly damp air she could feel the heat from Yugi as they walked together. True, she _was_ cold, more so than she had admitted to, but she was willing to hide it for now. After all, Yugi and the others were always so strong… Suddenly a feeling of warmth blanketed her shoulders. She snapped from her daze and realized that Yugi had given her his school jacket. (1)

"Better you be warm than I," he answered simply. After that they spoke no more.

At last they arrived to their desired cave. By now Ryou had forfeited his jacket to Fizdis, whom was downright freezing in her simple robes. On their approach the refugees heard the noise and came out to meet them. There were perhaps a dozen people present, men and women, mostly middle-aged, but there were two teenagers in the group about Fizdis's age. They cheered and hugged Téa when they saw her, and she seemed just as happy to see them. Once she had been passed around to everyone for a hug the group then surged upon the resistance, eagerly thanking them for bringing back their leader unharmed. Yugi got the front of the wave once it became known that he had saved her mere moments away from death. As the refugees babbled on and on to him he cast an irritated look at Téa, whom giggled behind her hand innocently.

One of the teenagers called out that they had brought enough food to share with the visiting resistance. At these words both Joey and Tristan's heads snapped around. Barreling through the jumble of people they were already digging in before anyone else had even moved. Over the talkative feasting (which included scolding for Joey and Tristan from a sharp-eyed refugee woman) the resistance members caught each other's eyes and silently agreed not to mention the demons sweeping the land above them. With the recent turn of events, no one wanted to disrupt the current happiness. They knew that it would be in short supply soon.

* * *

Notes:

(One) – OVERUSED! I know.

SC: Wow! What a horrible ending! This whole chapter was pointless beyond reason!

DragonBoy178: I used the full five weeks. I forced myself to finish this so that I wouldn't go over your deadline. Thanks!

And now, what you've all been waiting for… announcements concerning the next, best, and most anticipated (ha ha) chapter ever, "Counterattack!" Indeed, it is the next chapter, and let me be honest with you. I'm overly-obsessed with it; we all know that because I've been ranting about it forever. But let me reveal something to you: I'm _so_ obsessed, and _so_ excited about it, that I couldn't wait to write the chapter. So I wrote **fourteen pages** of "Counterattack"… in **July!** That's right, I had eighty percent of chapter thirteen done before I had even written chapter seven! That's **seven** months I've been sitting on it!

Now you know why I'm so excited.

I should post it soon, since I've already written so much of it. And to those of you who have played the game, I warn you: my idea goes way off the game's plot. Don't think you can guess what will happen.

I'm such a nerd.

Thanks for reading, and please review! It's cold here and I need the internal warmth they give me. (smile)


	13. Counterattack

SC: Let me know if all the hype was for nothing.

**Counterattack**

_Having shaken off their pursuers, Yugi gathers his remaining forces and begins their counterattack. Scott's massive army is harried by Yugi's nimble units. They are fewer in number, but the powerful and courageous resistance should be able to confront Scott's forces. The plan is to lure Scott into the Maryah-Denn Fields and then crush him once and for all!_

Tristan rolled over uneasily in his sleep. Though a fire had been lit and he had managed to keep from forfeiting his coat, it was chilly in the cave they shared with Téa's band of refugees. The rocky floor dug uncomfortably into his back. He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He guessed it was early morning, maybe five, early enough to where it would only be a few hours until dawn. His brown eyes glimmered in the firelight as he glanced around at the others. Joey was next to him, snoring loudly (how he had slept through all that noise so far, Tristan didn't know); Ryou and Shimon were a bit farther down the row, against the cave wall; and the girls were the closest to the fire. Téa and Fizdis still wore the jackets they received earlier, and, he noticed with a grin, Mai seemed to have acquired one and Joey lost one overnight. As he stared, however, he noticed that someone was missing from the picture.

"Yugi?"

Tristan heard the sounds of shuffling near the cave entrance and turned to look. There sat a figure with peaked hair, outlines smudged by a crimson haze. At the address Yugi had straightened his position but did not turn around. "Yes?" His words rolled gently over their sleeping comrades. Tristan tried to stay quiet as he got up and stepped over the snoring Joey, partly to keep from waking everyone up but mostly because Yugi's voice had put a kind of calm over the scene that he didn't want to disturb.

"Hey man, what are you doing up so early?" he asked, taking a seat at the cave entrance beside him.

"I could ask the same of you, as you always seem to have trouble getting up in the mornings," Yugi said with a chuckle. Tristan frowned at him, and he continued: "I've always been a morning person, but this morning had some help…"

"Joey's snoring?" Tristan supplied. Yugi grinned.

"As usual. I assume that's why you're up?"

"Among other things, but yeah." Tristan noticed that as Yugi sat he held the glass orb cupped in his hands, causing the soft red light to cast its glow upwards on his face. The contrast of light and shadow sharpened the angles of his eyes into gem-inlaid daggers. It was then that Tristan realized how powerful Yugi looked. His violet eyes shining with russet showed a mental keenness and spiritual age that far surpassed his own. There lingered a power, an intellect in his eyes that he could practically see, pacing like a caged beast, waiting to be released. He suspected that this was the look of those in history whom had risen to power at a young age: Alexander, Augustus, Napoléon… He realized he had been staring and quickly floundered for something to say.

"So, how long have you been awake?"

Yugi's eyes flicked from him to the cave wall, their movement the stroke of a sword, as he pondered the answer. "Maybe an hour. Maybe a little less."

Tristan leaned back onto his hands and joined Yugi in staring at the wall of stone. "It seems kinda' lonely out here."

"Maybe." There was a pause as he took in a breath of the misty cave air. "I haven't been wasting my time here, though." There it was, Tristan felt it: those last words were borne from the breath of battle. The change of tone had been so slight, a faint glint of light on a blade slipping an inch from its sheath, but it was enough to let Tristan know that Yugi had been contemplating the tides of war.

He asked, "How so?"

With a half-sigh that hinted at his inner fatigue, Yugi answered, "Plans for our departure. Now that we've evaded his army we need to launch a quick counterstrike against Scott. We're behind his ranks, which gives us an element they don't have factored in. They think we're in front of them, still running. Until they realize our true position, we can attack from almost anywhere behind them and be a surprise. All we need to know is where Scott is now."

"But how will we find that out?" asked Tristan, louder than he had intended. He froze as he heard some grumbling from Joey, something about "cheesecake," and then the snoring that indicated the blonde had gone back to sleep. A moment's pause, then he continued more quietly: "He could be anywhere."

"Indeed he could be, yet it is not hard to discern the possibilities. Currently his army is heading northwest after us. Once they reach the coast and realize we're not there, they'll turn around and come back the way they came, heading from northwest to southeast, thinking they missed us along the way. Since Scott thinks that we're so inferior to him, he doesn't want to be involved with fighting us. He'll go somewhere out of the way, which leaves the northeast, the southwest, or the island.

"The southwest is essentially forest land. There aren't any major cities there, so while it would make a good hiding place in terms of remoteness, its isolation won't suit the 'godly' image he's taken upon himself. The island is our stronghold, a place he knows we may fall back to, should we be defeated in a battle with his army. It's unlikely he would go there unless he thought us threat enough to recover and damage him in the future. That leaves the northeast, which has several castles and large towns for him to hole up in and wait out our defeat. It's my guess that he's there."

Tristan found his mouth was slightly ajar after Yugi's explanation. He certainly _had_ spent a lot of time thinking these things over. Had it really taken him only an hour to come up with that logic? Tristan figured it would take himself at least a year to do the same. "Yeah," he agreed numbly, "but how do we figure out for sure which place he's gone to?"

A deep chuckle stirred the air. Yugi raised his finger and tapped the purple gem around his neck. "I've sent out a scout."

As if by an invisible cue a short burst of marigold light pierced the darkness, and the Dark Magician appeared in front of them. The master sorcerer acknowledged Tristan's presence with a curt nod before bowing deeply to Yugi. Tristan watched as Yugi gazed at his monster. After a few silent moments during which neither of them moved Yugi finally said aloud, "The Maryah-Denn Fields."

Maryah-Denn was an area in the northeast of the continent; Tristan knew this from his prior escapades with Joey. Yugi had pinned Scott's location effortlessly, his Dark Magician only confirming it. Tristan couldn't believe how easily Yugi had worked out the correct location of the enemy on logic alone. There was that mental keenness again, sharp as ever. There were a few more moments of silence between the two until suddenly the Dark Magician vanished as he had appeared. Yugi turned back to face Tristan, whom realized that he was once again staring with his mouth open.

"Whoa," he said. "I'm not really sure how you did that, but it looked cool from here." He felt extremely stupid, but fortunately Yugi gave a laugh.

"Perhaps. For now, though," he tapped the violet jewel again, "I've been told it's almost dawn." Tristan nodded, and the two stood up to roust the others.

* * *

The resistance readied themselves for their departure. The refugees they had spent the night with watched with sadness in their eyes, for Téa had decided to leave and continue with Yugi's group. "Don't worry about me," she said with a sparkle in her gaze, "I'll be just fine where I'm going." Hugs were distributed and extra supplies donated to the resistance. As a token of thanks Yugi left the sparkling diamond containing Silver Fang with the refugees so that they could defend themselves if the need arose. Then, as the sun peaked over the edge of the world above them, they left. 

Before they could do anything, Téa needed to lead them back to the surface. After successfully evading Scott's army and obtaining a full night's sleep despite the cold, everyone was in a relatively good mood. "So?" Joey asked as they walked towards the surface, putting his hands behind his head. "What's the plan?"

"Something I believe attunes with your style, Joey," answered Yugi with a grin.

"Huh?"

Tristan whacked the blonde jokingly on the shoulder. "He means a completely random, out-of-the-blue attack with essentially no strategy behind it."

"What? Tristan! Why I oughta'…" Joey moved to give Tristan a good pounding but paused a moment later. He looked to Yugi accusingly. "We ain't seriously gonna' go that, are we?"

"No and yes," he said, earning the confused stares of everyone there. "We're going to be secretive and stealthy in getting to Scott. We don't want him knowing that his army missed us. Once we get to him, however, we will, as Tristan put it, attack him full out."

"'Once we get to him,'" Mai repeated. "How can we attack him if we don't know where he is?"

"And, if stealth is our goal in getting to him, how can we manage to do so without Scott noticing?" added Ryou. The others in their silence agreed with these two questions. Yugi ignored them for a moment and kept walking. His gaze glimmered as he seemed to enjoy the brief silence marred only by their scuffling footsteps. Then, after what felt to them to be minutes but in truth was only a lapse of a few seconds, Yugi spoke.

He explained what he had worked out that morning in his head with stunning knowledge of the terrain they would be soon crossing. He told them of Scott's location in the Maryah-Denn Fields (Tristan vouched for this statement). As for stealth, he had decided to split the resistance into groups that would each take different routes to Scott's current hideaway. Divided into smaller units, they could travel more easily without the fear of being seen. Joey and Téa would go via the mountains, as Red-Eyes was the fastest flyer and could pass over the peaks easily; Tristan and Ryou would take a route through the forest that fringed the plains; and Mai, Fizdis, and Shimon would lag behind as a defensive wall in case the enemy decided to change direction unexpectedly. Yugi then announced that he would be going by himself across the plains. There was an immediate outcry from everyone against this, but Yugi, expecting their concern, explained that since the plains were open fields with no cover a single person was the only way not to attract attention. There was a place just outside the town Scott was hiding in where the mountains swoop down into the valley below. Here the forest curved suddenly and grew up into the mountains, blending in with and cutting off the plains. The group would rendezvous there, where everything came together, before moving on to Scott. Mai, Fizdis, and Shimon would continue to defend the rear while everyone else moved on to the city.

"Tell me this Yugi: why does everything complicated sound so obvious when you say it?" asked Joey with a slight pout, and Yugi laughed.

"Daylight!" cried Fizdis. Indeed, before them lay the exit to the Craw-Valley, brimming with golden light. They stepped out into the dew-fresh air with grateful sighs to have finally escaped the endless caves. It had taken so long to reach the exit that the sun was already shimmering above the horizon. Its warm, comforting rays instilled a glowing peace over the land.

Yugi took a few steps away from the group and summoned Seiyaryu. The pastel air smoothed the harsh angles of the dragon's beak and feathers; its sapphire eyes matched the dazzling purity of the sky. It purred warmly at Yugi while he stroked its neck and slipped on its reins. The others watched him do this, and they didn't need to be given an order when he turned to look at them. Joey called Red-Eyes and helped Téa clamber on. Ryou and Tristan took their places on Parrot Dragon and Gazelle. The others withheld their monsters for the time being.

Yugi did not speak any words to them. With battle looming on the horizon he had fallen into his customary austere silence. All at once he dug in his heels and Seiyaryu took the sky. A few seconds later, everyone else followed suit. "Be careful everyone!" called Ryou over the rush of the wind, the last words any of them heard before they were alone.

* * *

Atop his valiant dragon, Yugi flew across the rolling Maryah-Denn Plains. The golden-brown blades of grass rippled with the wind and parted like water as Seiyaryu passed overhead. As they neared the forest the endless fields gave way to scraggly bushes, then to twisted trees of cedar and juniper, and finally to a forest of towering, proud trees, oak and elm. Still, there was no time to enjoy the scenery, as the hour of the attack on the enemy loomed near. Yugi tightened his grip on Seiyaryu's reins and leaned forward with perspicacity. He knew he would be counted on to provide most of the strength needed to defeat Scott. Despite this, there was another reason Yugi was so anxious to reach his destination. Anger burned deep within his eyes; he wanted to defeat Scott and punish him for dragging them all here to this realm. 

Time flew almost faster than they did, weaving along with them through the woods. They had just passed a small creek when a twinge gripped Yugi's heart. Instinctively he pulled back on Seiyaryu's reins. The rose-colored dragon slowed and Yugi slid quickly off its back. Settling on the ground, Seiyaryu blinked sapphire eyes curiously at its master.

This feeling… a feeling that touched his heart in one spot, yet seemed to permeate his whole spirit, was definitely something familiar. It was too – _right_ – to him to be anything else. The forest air around them, with mist beneath the cooling leaves above, was nearly soundless. Straining his memories, Yugi came across the remnants of one, jumbled together incoherently with time and magic: flashes of vaulted stone ceilings; an enrapturing violet glow; hypnotic thoughts that intoxicated him and numbed him to all others except _come closer… _

The quick burst of history lasted only a second. It took Yugi a few more moments to work through them and understand their message. That was how he had come across Mahado, back in the ruined castle of the Beasty Badlands. Mahado, whose soul gem matched his own perfectly and had created this same peculiar feeling, then, would surely know what to make of it. Not a moment after this connection crossed his mind the magician released himself from his soul gem in a flash of light. He appeared before Yugi, wearing what could have been – though Yugi had no idea why – an amused expression. Floating above the ground, Mahado crossed his legs beneath him and turned his starlit eyes to Yugi.

_'You have sensed it too, then, Soulmaster?' _he asked. This time, Yugi was sure of it: Mahado was definitely grinning.

_'What is this feeling, Mahado?' _asked Yugi, the slightest bit confused. '_I remember feeling this when first I met you, but what could it be this time?'_

Mahado's sonorous laughter sounded in Yugi's head._ 'I would not expect you to remember. Though she never actually swore eternal loyalty to you, she has aided you many times throughout the years_.'

_'She?'_

Something in the bushes nearby rustled, immediately drawing Yugi's attention. The sensation in his heart pulsed stronger, so much so that he could feel the throbbing even in his head. He took a tentative step closer, although something about the situation told him there was nothing to fear.

The bushes rattled again, louder and sharper, and suddenly, too quickly for the eye to follow, a figure bolted out of them. Yugi only had enough time to glimpse the colors of the being: blue with touches of magenta and yellow. The figure practically leapt on Mahado, and only then could Yugi identify it…

"Dark Magician Girl!" he blurted aloud.

The Dark Magician Girl's emerald eyes glittered with both excitement and guilt as she looked up at Mahado. '_I'm sorry I'm late!' _she chimed. '_But I'm here now!'_

_'Late indeed,'_ muttered Mahado. He pulled himself free of her suffocating hug_. 'Do you have any idea how long it's been since I sent for you?'_

_'My sincerest apologies, Master!' _Dark Magician Girl pulled back and toyed idly with the hem of her skirt_. 'It took me some time to get around the Imperial army,' _she explained, '_and I_… '

With a sigh Mahado shook his head. He glanced at Yugi, whom was watching the ordeal with an amused grin on his face, before turning back to the new arrival._ 'I don't want excuses_.' He raised his jade staff and pointed it almost threateningly at her. '_I expect more from my students_.' Dark Magician Girl made a fake and horribly exaggerated gasp and recoiled dramatically.

Yugi chuckled at her antics. "Who is this?" he asked Mahado

Dark Magician Girl turned to him. '_Yugi, thank you for looking out for my teacher. I am his number one student!' _she declared proudly, posing with her staff behind her back. Yugi wasn't entirely surprised that she knew his name; after all, they had been through a lot together.

Mahado rubbed his temple with his forefingers._ 'Be quiet, you,'_ he said irritably._ 'Soulmaster, this is my student, as she so readily proclaimed. Her name is Mana. I have called her back from her training_.' Mana, as she was called, held up the "V for Victory" sign. Rolling his eyes, Mahado continued:_ 'She is _still_ inexperienced' _– Mana frowned at this –_ 'but she may be of use. Please add her to your roster… somewhere near the bottom_.'

_'That's not nice!'_ Mana hovered defensively behind Yugi and gripped both his shoulders._ '"Near the bottom," indeed! That's no way to build up a girl's confidence, you know_.'

Yugi laughed again. "All right!" A second later, he felt a pang of guilt. Adding Mana to his team meant that Yugi would have to replace one of his monsters. Seiyaryu he would keep, and certainly he would not give up Mahado. That left…

Sadly, Yugi pulled the magenta soul gem belonging to Magician of Faith from around his neck. He held the chain aloft and summoned her to join the convention. She materialized and looked around at the others. Mahado looked solemn, though slightly irate. She saw Seiyaryu, whom had perched on a rock during the preceding reunion, staring at her with those soul-piercing eyes. Then she saw Yugi, and Mana floating just behind him.

"Magician of Faith," he began. "I… I don't know how to say this. You… Would you mind it if I…?"

Magician of Faith understood what he was getting at. She was saddened, but she also understood that the Empire was steadily growing more deadly, and that Yugi would need better monsters to keep up. She tried to hide the tears in her eyes as she forced a smile onto her face. Magician of Faith raised her staff high, aiming to do one last act of good for the resistance and for Yugi. Enchanting words spilled off her lips as light like the sun shone atop her staff. The light condensed into a glowing orb, which floated down in front of Yugi. She mouthed the words "Thank you" before she could take no more, and vanished deep into her soul gem.

Yugi stood frozen for a moment in the silence that overtook their group. Slowly he reached out and touched the orb floating before him. The light snapped off and revealed Magician of Faith's gift: an old, rugged book, with yellowed pages and thick leather bindings, hovering in the still air.

Mahado looked on the book in slight awe. '_A Book of Secret Arts…? She is wise to leave us this. It will do well for Mana to read up on it_.' For once, Mana didn't have a comment to throw back at him. With a wave of her staff the spellbook flickered away.

Yugi turned over his shoulder to look at Mana. "…It looks like you're with us now." He gave an encouraging smile. "Don't let me down."

* * *

A breath of wind fluttered Joey's vibrant blonde hair as tense brown eyes stared hard at the horizon. Every few moments he would take to a set of pacing before turning to scour the distant land again. He and Red-Eyes were atop a low-peaked mountain, just above the valley. Nearby, in the town below, the castle where Scott was hiding stood with a weighted magnetism to it, coated with darkness that pulled everything around it into its constricting core. The beautiful reds and golds of the valley sunset died at the castle edge, drained away into the black hole of stone. Joey had already made contact with Tristan and Ryou below. Tristan had signaled to him using flashes of light off his Machine King to attract the blonde's attention; Red-Eyes answered with a quick breath of flame. The four of them were ready and waiting. Now all they needed was Yugi, whom should have already arrived. Joey growled softly to himself and paced again. He hated feeling nervous like this, but he couldn't help it. His brain told him that the only reason Yugi could be so late is if he were held up by something, which could mean that he was attacked, which could mean that the enemy was headed this way… 

Perched on a rock a few feet away, Téa looked up from her knees. "Will you please stop doing that, Joey?" she asked for the third time.

"What's it to you that I pace?" he countered, taking a few more steps and staring again.

"You're making me nervous. Incorrectly so," she said, following his movements with her eyes. "You know that Yugi will be here." To herself she added, "Nothing can stop him…" She trailed off as her cheeks darkened, hoping the blonde hadn't heard the last part.

Thankfully, Joey didn't turn to look at her. "Yeah, well, excuse me for being cautious" he snapped. Red-Eyes growled softly at him. "Oh, and now you think I'm overdoing things, too? Whose side are you on?" The words were harsh, unusual for Joey. Red-Eyes sighed and shifted his wings restlessly; the air was becoming a bit colder as the sun neared the edge of the world. A cool breeze slipped over them in streams that pushed the sun further into night.

Just then, a flash of light blinked in the corner of Joey's eye. He stopped pacing and whirled around to face the forest. His eyes searched for the spot where he had spotted Tristan earlier. Another flash gleamed, and he leapt upon it. Two had been sent, and a third one meant…

A third flash of light blinked at him. That meant that Yugi had arrived and was now with Tristan and Ryou.

"He's here," he said to Téa. _Finally!_ he thought. He didn't need all this stress right before a battle. To himself he made a note to give Yugi a good whack for being late.

Téa looked up excitedly – a little too excitedly, and almost fell off the rock she was sitting on. "Yugi?"

"Yeah. He made it." Joey turned to Red-Eyes. The ebony dragon lowered its neck and allowed the blonde to climb on. He waved his tail at Téa, signaling for her to get on as well. Tentatively she clambered up behind Joey and secured a grip around his waist (she still wasn't the world's biggest fan of flying). Red-Eyes straightened and thrust his wings down, lifting them all into the air.

* * *

The town was already slipping into its nighttime hush when Yugi, Tristan, and Ryou entered. There was no activity on the streets, and hardly any lights in the windows. Yugi wondered if maybe news of their attack had somehow reached the townspeople's ears, or if they had gone into hiding because of Scott's occupation. 

"It's sad, to see a lively town reduced to this…" commented Ryou quietly. Other than his words, the relative silence pressed down on their shoulders. Unsettling though it was, it swirled around them like the quiet calm before the storm.

"Hmm? Oh, yes," said Yugi absently. He hadn't been truly listening, and had actually been speaking with Mahado.

_'Mahado, are you sure Mana is up to the task of fighting with the resistance?'_

_'Soulmaster, do I sense doubt in your heart?'_

_'No_, Yugi countered. _'But… she didn't seem that serious about everything. About facing Scott and the Empire_.

_'She _was_ a bit… excited, that I will allow. But do not be discouraged by just her outward appearance, Soulmaster_, Mahado assured him._ 'When the time comes, you will see her true strength_.'

"Yugi!" Tristan waved his hand in front of Yugi's face. "Hey man, wake up!"

"Huh?" Yugi said. He blinked a few times to bring himself back to reality. He turned and saw his friends looking at him concernedly.

"Now that I've finally got your attention," Tristan said dryly. "You're spacing out on us, Yugi."

"Sorry…"

Ryou commented, "It's okay. You've probably got a lot on your mind." He averted his gaze slightly. "I know I do."

"Right, well, the point is, I was trying to tell you that we're here, Yugi." Tristan waved at the open square in front of him. Multicolored tiles formed intricate, flowery designs beneath their feet. It was beautiful, though effectively ruined by the situation. "We've beaten Joey and Téa. Do you think we should find somewhere out of sight to wait until they show up?"

Yugi glanced around the area for a moment, then shook his head. "No. There's no one here to see us. Hiding won't make any difference. Scott hasn't even sent anyone to meet us along the way. He either doesn't know we're here, or…" – he stiffened atop Seiyaryu – "… he's just waiting for the face off."

"Speaking of which," Tristan jumped off of Gazelle's back and turned to face Yugi fully, "are you going to fight Scott by yourself?"

Violet eyes narrowed, a touch of anger lingering at their edges. "Yes. It's my duty to face him – and I would rather not drag all of you into the fight if it is not necessary."

"There you go again: being valiant," said a voice from above. Yugi felt the shadow of something move over him and watched as Red-Eyes landed in the square. Joey jumped off quickly, leaving Téa to slide off awkwardly.

"Joey?"

The blonde grinned at him. "Ya' gotta' stop being so egotistical. We're all stuck in this world too, and we all want to get out just as badly. We're gonna' take out Scott together." He held out his hand. "Agreed?"

"I…" Yugi began, but something in Joey's smile told him that he wouldn't back down. "…Agreed," he said, and shook on it. The air seemed to brighten, if only for a moment.

In the next moment, a dark chill encroached upon them.

"Well, well, well," said the voice, smooth as honey yet resonant with the tremors of an earthquake. "Such determination, even when death draws its scythe against your throats. I like that in prey."

There, from between the trees across from them, a shadow emerged. The slanting rays of the setting sun threw his face into a fiery glow, contrasting the icy glimmer in his darkened eyes. One step, two steps forward, and he stopped facing the resistance.

"Scott," Yugi murmured. Seiyaryu growled fiercely at the arrival of their foe.

Scott chuckled, the sound rumbling in the air. "I see your animosity hasn't wavered in the slightest."

Yugi took a bold step forward. "So, you've come out of hiding to face us? What's the matter, Scott? Things aren't working out as you planned?" Joey and Tristan took up defensive stances on either side of Yugi. Ryou's eyes showed a bit of worry, yet he held his countenance serious. Téa was the only one who actually looked afraid. She tried to hold herself strong but her fearful tremors showed through in her shoulders.

"_Au contraire_. I simply wanted to save you the trouble of storming my castle to reach me." Scott fingered the soul gem around his neck absently. It was a clear white, though not the white of purity. It was the white of emptiness of the soul. "Though it may not seem like it to you, things are going just as planned for me." He waved a hand at them. "I even have most of the resistance here in front of me."

"You act like we're just flies in your face!" Joey hollered. "We're not as easy to swat as you think!"

"Or maybe it's easier than _you_ think…" The corners of Scott's thin mouth curled upward. "One of you is already gone."

A panicked tremor raced through Yugi's heart and made it tighten. Though his sense of logic told him it was probably a bluff, his fear leapt out ahead of him. "What?" he blurted.

Joey did the same thing. "Who?" A panicked voice in the back of his head babbled incoherent things about Mai being in danger.

His smirk broad as ever, Scott lifted his hand, paused for the smallest moment, and then drew it swiftly across his throat.

A sound like a gunshot blasted from the trees on the left.

**BANG!**

The sound thundered through the air and made the very ground beneath them rumble. It was far more powerful than even a normal cannon shot, as though it had been hooked up to several loudspeakers. In the ringing, stinging seconds that followed, something else pierced deeply into their ears: the sharp, clear sound of something shattering, and the light jingle of pieces falling to the ground. Time was slow and yet blindingly fast, a rushing torrent that never once moved. The whirl of sound and time paralyzed Yugi for a moment. His brain churned, struggling to grasp what had happened. _Gunshot. Something breaking. Gunshot_, it repeated over and over.

Wait… a gunshot!

The bottom of Yugi's stomach dropped below his feet leaving the empty space to fill with dread. His eyes jumped to Scott automatically since he was still stunned. Scott's eyes filled with demented glee at Yugi's immobility, what little light remaining darkening on his unholy frame.

"Who?" he repeated Joey's question. His finger lifted through the heavy daze and pointed to the right. "She is."

_She._ The word drilled into Yugi's consciousness with a diamond blade and sank poisoned fangs into his heart. _She…_ _No, it can't…_ He spun to the right and felt reality shatter, every force of nature and space reversing on him and thrusting all their combined might against his heart.

Citrus-yellow shards of glass caught snippets of the dying sun and glinted coldly at him. The shards were strewn around her motionless form, sprawled out on the ground. Yugi's knees and heart threatened to give out on him at the same time with the surge of weakness that pooled around him. Her name escaped his lips on a breath of wind. "_Téa…_"

By now the others had overcome their own shock and were beginning to realize what was going on. Joey was the first of them to turn and witnessed Yugi throw himself at Téa's side. He saw Téa lying there, chillingly immobile, and instantly knew. The weight of the impenetrable, unreal truth struck him hard in the face, enough so that he did a double take. He could say nothing. Endless words filled his head, shouts of anger, sorrow, but none could make the jump across the endless canyon and exit his mouth.

Now on his knees beside her, Yugi touched Téa's shoulder. "T-Téa, please…" Like silent outcries from his heart tears filled and fell from his eyes, tears that he didn't bother to keep hidden either on his face on in his wavering voice. He saw the silver chain of her soul gem trailing off to the side, but the once beautiful jewel that had been on the end was gone, reduced to the mere fragments that beset them. Gently he rolled her over onto her back. Seeing her face only doubled the intensity of his tears.

As he watched the ordeal, Ryou was able to force out a sorrow-filed "Oh, my…" Tristan, like Joey, didn't say anything at all and merely averted his gaze. They stayed where they were, being unable or unwilling to move and join Yugi at her side.

"Please, Téa, speak to me…" Yugi tried again. He leaned over her and listened for the sound of her breathing. He heard no such sound. Desperate, he pressed his fingers against her neck in search of a pulse. Even after a few moments had passed without feeling anything, he kept his fingers rigidly in place, hoping against all hope that maybe he would feel something eventually, and that she would be all right, alive…

"Yugi." Joey had worked himself out of his paralysis enough to approach and to kneel beside him. Of course he was just as shaken as the rest of them were and filled with the same sadness over everything, but deep down he knew why Yugi was so deeply stricken with grief. Téa had a connection to Yugi that Joey could never dream of having, forged over the many years they had been friends, one that Joey inwardly suspected Yugi of taking farther… "Yugi, that won't work. It's too late. She's…" The monstrous canyon suddenly reappeared in his throat and Joey found he couldn't go on.

Yugi didn't hear him. He finally gave up on waiting for a pulse. Instead he slid his arm beneath her lifeless neck and lifted her torso onto his lap. Tears dripped onto her pale face as Yugi pressed his forehead to hers. "Téa…" he whispered. "I'm sorry…"

"How touching." Scott's acrimonious voice clashed against the heartfelt scene. "Poor Mister Hero, he's lost his friend." Clanking footsteps sounded from his left; a huge Barrel Dragon stepped into view from beyond the trees, its black and oiled gun barrels issuing thin trails of smoke. It had been responsible for the previous gunshot.

Joey was instantly on his feet. "_Shut up, bastard!_" he roared.

"Ooh, bit of a temper, have we?" Scott clicked his tongue in disapproval. "And all over a girl, too."

"_How the hell could you do that to her?_"

The sun's rays were quickly retreating from the land. Scott remarked almost conversationally, "Oh, death is easy to command in this realm. These gems," he motioned to his empty white one, "are in actuality a physical manifestation of the human soul. The same soul, by the way, which is the only thing holding you here in this world. No soul…" he glanced at the yellow shards that had once been Téa's soul gem, "… no life."

Joey was about to open his mouth and yell a string of some _very_ obscene words when a sound stopped him. The blonde turned to Yugi, whose breathing had grown noticeably louder, making slight hissing sounds past clenched teeth. He gently laid Téa back down and turned his gaze to Scott. The shining trails of his tears glistened on his cheeks with dazzling intensity. His eyes were wide and glaring, dyed a shade of purple that seemed almost to be red with hatred with pupils dilated to pinpricks. Joey saw his friend's eyes and took a breath like a fish out of water. That look was nothing human. It was a look of pure, primal rage, one that sent forth waves of absolute loathing and a desire for destruction. Joey had never seen such rage before, least of all in Yugi.

Yugi stood and faced Scott fully. The emotion coming from him was so intense that sparks of electricity seemed to dance around him. It took a moment for Joey to realize that there actually _were_ sparks, and that he wasn't just imagining them. They snapped and hissed, like sharp ruby serpents eager to tear into the nearest vulnerable flesh. That's when Joey noticed the source of the sudden electricity: around Yugi's neck, beside his soul gem and those of his monsters, was the strange red orb with a living flame inside. Joey remembered Yugi telling him how he had found it, and thought it to be something special. Now the orb was glowing a blood red, emanating tendrils of electricity to engulf its wearer.

Scott, however, wasn't daunted by the ordeal, as though he couldn't see any of it. "Ooh, it seems I've made the valiant one mad. Go on then, bring out your monsters and destroy me." Twin spurts of light flashed, and Scott's other monsters appeared, a Cosmo Queen and a second Barrel Dragon. "I should rather enjoy watching you meet the girl's fate the hard way instead of taking the instant route."

Yet Yugi didn't make any move to summon his monsters. His enraged eyes narrowed, and barely above a whisper, he said, "_I'm going to kill you_."

His words had been fierce, even at their volume. Joey had been the only one to truly hear them and was scared to death by them. He had never, _ever_, heard Yugi say he wanted to kill _anyone_, no matter what the offense. To hear such things from Yugi defied his very nature, and yet he had spoken with the clearest lethal air that there was no mistaking his intent. Joey's sense of logic told him that something was not right with his friend.

The electricity dancing in the air around Yugi suddenly ceased, and regrouped around the glowing red orb, now almost opaque with light and energy. The light began pulsing slowly, a bloodthirsty heartbeat, then faster, until it was a solid blaze. At close range the crimson rays blinded Joey. In the sea of unending red he heard the booming roll of thunder in the sky above. After a few moments Joey's eyes adjusted and could see through the sanguineous veils of light. He looked up at the sky to find black thunderclouds twisting and crashing against each other. Lightning arced back and forth amongst them, lightning that was the color of blood. Above the chorus of thunder, there came a titanic roar that resonated in the air and rattled every cell in Joey's body. He recognized this roar; it was one that he had heard only a few times before.

The thought of its owner made him tremble.

Suddenly twin arcs of lightning converged upon one cloud. Dark billows rent asunder, splitting open the very sky. Something moved within the gap, twisted, writhed. Endless coils of blood unraveled. Wide wings, crimson and black, flared open. Thunder crashed again as the beast descended from the heavens to meet the Earth.

Yugi's eyes were almost crazed. "_Scott, meet my friend, and oblivion_."

Tristan took a scrambled step back as he stared up at the gargantuan beast that blocked out the very sky. "Th-That's Slypher!" he shouted, though no one present needed help in identifying it. The huge crimson dragon lowered its head, so that its burning auric eyes could be seen even from far below on the ground. Both of its mouths bared yard-high shining fangs.

Joey couldn't believe what was happening. Yugi had somehow managed to summon _Slypher_, the God of the Heavens himself, from out of nowhere! Seiyaryu, Red-Eyes, and Parrot Dragon were growling and squawking chaotically. The presence of the Dragon God did not bode well to them. Even Scott's Barrel Dragons had taken fearful steps back from the celestial creature.

Scott's eyes were wide, as wide as Yugi's had been when still paralyzed by the fateful gunshot, yet he snapped at his monsters, "Don't move! You don't actually think he can control this infernal creature, do you?"

Neither Yugi nor Slypher seemed to take kindly to his insult. Slypher roared angrily, creating a gale that slammed into Scott and shoved him back several feet with a cry. Yugi smirked, and said in an almost hissing voice, "_Insulting your enemy… truly a sign of weakness. Tell me, do you think so apathetically about death now, as it looms so readily before you?_"

Scott opened his mouth to speak, but before any words escaped him he was knocked backward again with another roar from Slypher. This time he fell onto the rough stone beneath him with an ungraceful _whap_. Yugi chuckled, and the air turned colder. "_Control is not an issue. Control is easy to secure_.

"_But you are in my way, and for that I will eliminate you_." Slypher's gaping jaws opened wide. Electricity crackled and surged within, gathering strength. Scott looked up at the god and paled. There was nowhere to run; nothing would be spared, should that blast be released. His Barrel Dragons took half steps in front of him, a futile effort to shield their master. His Cosmo Queen raised her hands and muttered the incantation for a protective spell. "_Shields will be of no use! You have already sealed your fate, by tempting me_."

The lightning in Slypher's mouth was only barely held back. Yugi's baleful eyes punctured Scott deeper than his next words: "_For crossing me, die_."

"Yug', NO!" Without warning Joey seized his friend from behind in a near stranglehold. "Don't! You _can't!_" The action was enough to make Yugi choke and falter in his harsh demeanor.

Scott didn't waste a breath. Phosphorescent green light surrounded him, fringed with white and neon blue. His image buzzed in and out of focus, like a computer hologram. He wiped the terror from his face and mustered one last arrogant smirk before vanishing within the wormhole. His monsters blinked out of existence a few seconds later.

The lightning in Slypher's throat died and it let out an angry screech. Its tail lashed the sky angrily as thunder crashed again. Yugi uttered an infuriated growl and tried to struggle free of Joey's grasp. The blonde only gripped him harder. "Yug', listen to me! You didn't want to do that!" he cried, almost pleaded. "It wasn't worth resorting to killing, sinking to _his_ level!"

"_Let me go!_" Yugi snapped, struggling harder still, clearly still dominated by rage.

"_Yugi! Get it through your head!_ I _know_ you want to get back at Scott for what he did to Téa! You're not a killer!" Yugi ignored him and managed to pry one hand off his shoulder. "_Yugi!_" Joey spun his friend around and looked him in the face.

Where his irises should have been purple, only cold, cruel yellow stared back They were blazing, fiery – and yet, could not have been emptier. Stunned by their appearance, Joey could only stare into them, and could almost see his reflection in their shallow, mirror-like essence. Yugi, however, was not content with this._ "I said let go of me, mortal!_" Joey's hands loosened and fell back by his sides. Yugi backed away from him once he was free, a disgusted sneer painted on his face.

"Yugi…" Joey murmured.

"Yugi!" Tristan had jogged over to the pair. "Will you please get rid of Slypher now?" he asked loudly. "He's starting to creep me out." The huge dragon was leering down at all of them, yellow eyes watching their every movement.

_Yellow eyes_.

"_Heh. So, the mortal finds me frightening?_" Yugi laughed a cold, empty laugh.

Tristan blinked at him. "'You?' What are you talking about?"

Joey's head was racing, his heart beginning to quicken with it. Yugi's words from earlier blared in his head:

_"Control is not an issue. Control is easy to secure."_

Oh, _gods_. Joey's heart froze. His gaze swiveled to Yugi's, once again looking into the yellow hollows. He confirmed to himself that they really were yellow, and it wasn't just some trick of the light.

Yugi laughed again and dark thunder rumbled overhead. "_Ha! It seems you are more ignorant than you look, mortal_."

_Mortal_. Oh gods, oh _gods_. That was the third time Yugi had called one of them by that name. Usually the only people that took to calling everybody around them "mortal" were those which were immortal themselves. Immortal like a god.

Immortal… like Slypher.

"What? Okay, that's it: I don't care if you're my friend, Yugi, you're gonna' pay for that one!" Tristan grabbed Yugi by his collar.

Joey paled. "Tristan, don't! He's – "

He didn't have time to finish his sentence. Without any sound or signal a bolt of red lightning raced down from the sky to strike Tristan's hand. The electricity filled his body and flung him backward with a yell of pain. He landed on the ground several yards away, twitching violently before he passed out. Yugi smirked down at him.

"_Next time, don't be so presumptuous_," he sneered.

"Tristan!" Ryou moved and knelt beside him. Touching his shoulder, he pulled back when he felt a small shock. He turned to Yugi fearfully. "What did you do to him?"

"_I showed him what happens when I am defied_."

Ryou recoiled from him. "What's happened to you, Yugi?"

"Ryou," Joey said cautiously, his voice alarmingly calm. He didn't take his eyes off of Yugi. "I don't think that's Yugi. Not anymore."

"Wh-What are you getting at?" he asked numbly.

Yugi's smirk broadened. "_Well. Apparently, there is at least one perceptive mortal on this retched earth_."

"So at least you admit to it. That proves that I'm not imagining things." Joey's eyes narrowed. "All right, you, what's your story? What're you doing messing with my friend?"

A bolt of lightning flashed above them, deafening thunder following shortly after. "_A soul has opened the gate. I am here to ensure that gate remains open_," he answered lapidarily.

"Talk straight, ya' jerk!"

"_Never has there been a soul powerful enough to break the bindings that sealed me away a thousand years ago. Not until this day_." Yugi raised the red orb in his palm, the flame flaring higher than ever. "_This was the key to unleashing me. Only the one soul destined to set me free could ever find it, activate it, command it. _

"_This soul called me from the eternal abyss and bore me here. Now that I am free, I don't intend to return to my prison. No, I've secured a much better option: claiming the body of my liberator as my own._" Above them, the true Slypher roared victoriously.

Joey swallowed and hollered angrily, "I'm not letting you possess my friend!"

"_You are far too late, mortal. My hold is already in place_." A blaze of sparks suddenly filled the air surrounding Yugi. Similar arcs of lightning engulfed Slypher. The dragon's immense form turned to crimson light and disappeared within the lightning. The electricity condensed into a single bolt, which lanced down from the sky and struck Yugi. It didn't seem to hurt him; rather, it strengthened him. An unholy aura of blood flared up around him. His yellow eyes burned from within.

Gusts of wind began to howl with rage. Somehow, even without Slypher looming above, the sky turned darker and filled with still more electricity. Yugi was the source of it all, the focus of the winds and the dictator of the lightning. The four resistance monsters that remained were now making a great deal of ruckus. Yellow eyes narrowed with anger, and four bolts of lightning came down upon them. Gazelle, Parrot Dragon, and Red-Eyes were hit, and disappeared into their gems. Seiyaryu flared its wings and let the wind blow it back just as the lightning came down, narrowly dodging.

Reflective eyes then flicked downward to study their newly acquired body. "_Now that I have merged my full power into this body_," Slypher raised his hands, palms facing upward, "_I believe I'll make it more to my liking_."

Ryou was crouched over Tristan and gripping him tightly, his deep eyes watching the scene before him with absolute dread. Joey could barely keep on his feet, as the constant gales lashed against him. Above the roaring air he cried, "DON'T YOU DARE DO ANYTHING TO HIM!"

Joey was in no position to stop him. Slypher moved his right hand to rest on the back of his left. He traced the length of his hand down to the fingertips, leaving blood dripping in its place. That's how it looked at first, as the dark crimson color spread across the whole of his hand. Lightning flashed and his skin seemed to shimmer. It was not, in fact, blood, but ruby scales that had grown with Slypher's touch. When the wave of scales reached his fingertips, his fingernails turned diamond white. They sharpened, lengthened, and turned into claws that curved off the ends of his fingers threateningly.

Slypher did the same to his right hand. Joey yelled something incoherent at him and took a staggered step forward against the wind. Slypher glanced up at him. He narrowed his glowing eyes again, and a considerably larger rush of air slammed him back until he was even with Ryou. The blonde practically roared, but it took all his strength just to stand up. He couldn't get closer to Slypher.

The bloodied aura flared higher around him. The more Slypher used his power, the easier he was able to access it in this foreign body. A portion of the aura extended behind him. It twisted itself out, longer and longer. Soon static crackled around it, and before Joey and Ryou's eyes it solidified. Slypher now had a tail, thick and powerful as a python. The same blood red scales covered most of its surface, except for the underside, which was pitch-black. Rigid spikes stood in a line down almost to the end. At its tip were four, stegosaurus-like spikes, and one larger one like the blade of a sword. The whole appendage was long enough for the blade to rest flat on the ground while he was standing up. It shifted behind him, ever-changing into serpentine shapes.

A groan escaped Tristan's mouth, lost to the wind that howled over him. He opened his eyes slowly. He saw Ryou leaning over him, his face turned away. Still sore from the lightning bolt, Tristan managed to force himself upright. When he got there he laid eyes on the most terrifying thing he had seen in his life.

Ryou noticed him move and turned back. "Tristan! You're okay!" Though he had yelled his words were barely audible over the wind in their ears.

Tristan ignored his gratified comment. "What the hell's happening to Yugi?" he hollered.

"It's Slypher! Yugi's been possessed by him or something!"

"WHAT?"

With two clawed fingers, Slypher reached up and pressed against his teeth. He lowered his hand, and the three youths watching saw his canines elongate into pearly fangs. They grew long enough to almost completely overlap the teeth beneath them. Slypher's tongue slid over the fangs, relishing in their presence. He seemed highly satisfied with the alterations he had made to his new body.

Slypher then spoke to them, and the wind carried his words directly to their ears. "_I will refrain from making anymore changes, for now. I wish to test the limits of this new freedom by invoking my power against those that sealed me away so long ago. …The destruction… of every town and village on this continent should suffice_."

He hissed in his thunder-laced voice, "_For this moment, I shall spare you. You will survive long enough to escape, potentially to warn a limited number of people_." Thunder filled the sky as Slypher smirked and licked his fangs again. "_But that will not save you from your fate_."

Slypher turned his back to them. He grasped the two remaining monster gems around his neck and pulled them off, letting them fall to the ground. Static engulfed him and he disappeared in a bolt of lightning that lanced upward into the sky. One last crash of thunder rolled down to them along with Slypher's roar. Then the dark clouds parted, the winds ceased, and all was deathly quiet.

The three youths were frozen for a long moment. After an eternity Joey sank slowly to his knees, grief and tumult overpowering him. "He's gone," he slurred. "We've lost both of them today. Téa… and Yugi."

Ryou tried to give him some words of encouragement, but could not work them out past the wall that had been erected in his throat. Tristan, however, managed to say something. "Joey… Don't give up hope like that. Maybe everything's not as hopeless as it seems. What if Yugi's fighting back inside, and breaks free?"

"Tristan, you _idiot!_" Joey snapped suddenly. He turned around to glare at him. The others saw that he was crying freely. "You saw most of – of _that!_ Slypher didn't act like there was any resistance! Because there _wasn't!_" Tears spilled from his eyes in such fortitude they splattered to the ground.

Ryou poked a tiny hole in his wall. "But… Sometimes, it might not look like there's anyone inside fighting back, b-but I know differently…" He was insinuating to the many times he had been possessed by the Ring Spirit. Never once had he managed to break completely free, not on his own, but he had never given up fighting and had always done so beneath the Spirit's unwavering façade.

"Damn it Ryou, Slypher's a _God!_ Do you honestly think that _anyone_, even _Yugi_, could stand up to something like that?"

"Yugi could." Both of them looked up at Tristan. "He's done it more times than any of us ever could."

Ryou nodded feebly. "A-And… Slypher did say that only one soul could be powerful enough to summon him… If Yugi could summon him, logically he could stand up to him, be his equal."

"There is no logic here, Ryou," Joey said darkly. "Because in real life your best friend doesn't turn homicidal and become a demon before your eyes –!"

"Yes it does," Tristan interjected. "What's happening in this world is real Joey, and everything that has happened up to this point has been real life."

Joey was silenced for a moment. He looked sadly at Téa. "It's not real life for her," he whispered. "Not anymore." Neither Tristan nor Ryou had anything to say to that.

The blonde felt something nudge his shoulder. Sniffing up some of his tears, he turned to see the solemn sapphire eyes of Seiyaryu. Joey shifted so that he could face the dragon, and reached out to stroke its neck. "I'm sorry you had to see that happen to Yugi. He was your friend, wasn't he?" Seiyaryu growled softly. "He always thought so highly of you. I'll bet you're his new favorite monster, after his Dark Magician…"

Seiyaryu pulled away from Joey's touch. It paced over and stopped in front of Téa's lifeless form. Shards of her soul glinted around its feet. The others simply watched him, unmoving. Seiyaryu stared down at Téa's motionless form, then quickly, before any of them could react, it opened its beak and launched a blast of flames.

All three of them leapt up at once. "TÉA!" they cried in unison. Joey ran up to the dragon and seized him from behind.

"You nutcase! Burnin' her body! Ya' didn't even ask anybody!" The blonde threw the dragon to the side and moved to damage it more.

"Joey, wait…! Something's happening!" Ryou said slowly. At Ryou's words he turned and watched the silvery blaze. He could see the outline of Téa's body shimmering through the veils of flame. Strangely, she still seemed to be intact, even with the fire licking upward around her. Joey heard a faint scraping sound and looked at his feet. The gem shards on the ground were scooting toward the flames as though a magnet were luring them in. The shards moved into the flames, but didn't melt. He spied the chain to Téa's soul gem. Shards were amassed around it, building on one another and sticking.

Joey's jaw slowly dropped open. "It's… It's coming back together!" he cried happily. Gradually the familiar yellow gem began to take shape at the end of the chain. Sharp edges smoothed out into an even, faceted surface. The flames were beginning to flicker and fizzle out. Silver danced lower and lower until the fire remained only on the gem. One last shard wriggled, climbed atop its brothers, and made the gem whole.

There was a weighted pause as the three teens waited with baited breath. Four pairs of eyes pierced the air, silently hoping. Then there was movement, the tiniest flutter of eyelids. An almost inaudible intake of air as breath returned to her. Her breathing grew louder and more regular. Her three overseers nearly cried with relief.

"Seiyaryu, I love you!" Joey flung himself around the dragon's neck in a suffocating hug. Seiyaryu sweatdropped, stroking his wing down Joey's back awkwardly. Tristan laughed at the sight.

Ryou chuckled lightly. He bent low near Téa's face. "Téa?" he said quietly. "Can you hear me?"

"I hear Joey's in love with someone." The normality of her tone of voice shocked him. Tristan laughed even harder, earning a glare from Joey. Téa kept her eyes closed but was grinning broadly.

Ignoring the two boys' antics, Ryou spoke again, "Are you all right, Téa? Can you move?"

"I think so… I can move, yeah." She blinked her eyes open. With Ryou guiding her she sat upright. "And I'm all right," she added. Téa was startled when Ryou suddenly leaned forward and hugged her.

He held her tightly for a moment before pulling back. "I-I'm sorry, Téa… I was so worried; we all were… We were so afraid…"

Téa quirked an eyebrow at him. "Um… Why?"

All three boys turned to stare at her, incredulous; Joey and Tristan stopped bickering to do so.

Feeling the weight of their gaze, Téa shifted uncomfortably. "Why were you worried?" she asked again.

Tristan looked at her strangely. "You… you don't remember what happened?"

"Something happened? What?"

Ryou choked slightly. "Téa. You… you were…"

Joey cut in: "Téa, you _died_, damn it!"

Téa was stunned for a moment. After several seconds she blurted out, "What?"

"It's true," Ryou confirmed. "Scott… You remember that he was here, right?" She nodded slowly. "He was talking, and then there was the gunshot…"

"I remember hearing that," she interrupted. "But after that…" She trailed off in realization. "… I don't remember anything."

Tristan knelt down and looked her in the eye. "There's a reason you don't remember anything after the gunshot. Téa, that shot hit your gem. It shattered everywhere. The next thing we knew, you were on the ground, and you weren't breathing…

"Scott explained it to us. He said these gems were the 'physical manifestation of our soul.' And by destroying yours…"

"He – he killed me?"

"Yes."

"B-But then… how am I here now?" she demanded.

"Seiyaryu did that," explained Joey. "He somehow put your gem back together." He averted his gaze. "I didn't realize there was a way to bring you back. I was…"

"Distraught," Ryou supplied.

"Yeah, that's it. We all were. But most of all, you scared…" Joey cut off and his eyes darkened.

Téa urged him to continue. "Scared…?" She felt the tension around her rise dramatically. All three boys looked at each other, seemed to communicate through their eyes, and nodded.

"…Yugi," they said at the same time.

"Yugi…?" Suddenly Téa realized that Yugi wasn't with them. She looked around wildly but didn't see him. "Oh my gosh! Yugi! Is he okay? Where is he? … Where's Scott? Did Yugi go after him? _What happened while I was dead?_" Téa ignored the oddity of her last question.

"Calm down! Calm down!" Ryou eased. "Firstly, Scott's gone. Secondly, Yugi didn't go after him."

"But where _is_ he?" Téa asked again irritably. "And is he _okay?_" If she thought the tension from before was intense, this time it was near on triple, a deadening, suffocating silence. No one made any move to say anything at all, which was getting really annoying to Téa. "Will you people grow up and talk to me?" she cried angrily.

"Téa," Joey's voice was choked. "Shut up."

"I – what?"

"Just shut up!" Téa was amazed to see tears in Joey's eyes. Amazed, and now suddenly, she was nervous.

Tristan looked at her sympathetically. "What he means to say is… we don't know where Yugi is."

"But we know… that he isn't okay," Ryou finished. He looked near on tears as well. It was surprising that he hadn't broken before Joey did.

Téa paled. She felt as if her heart had left the starting line of a big race. Her voice squeaked as she stammered, "H-He's not okay?" Again, no one moved, but she saw Seiyaryu shake its head. She realized that if something was wrong with Yugi, his dragon was probably hurting as deeply as the three boys were, and was only doing a better job at hiding it.

Seeing as Tristan was the only one not yet teary-eyed, he took the liberty of talking. "Téa, I know you want to hear all the details. I don't know all of them. I was unconscious for part of it." Téa's face turned even more fearful. Someone falling unconscious usually meant that something serious, even violent, had happened. "But I know enough to know that right now, things are _not_ good."

"Joey and I saw everything," Ryou whispered. His lip quivered as he held back another wave of tears. "W-We can tell you… how we lost him…"

"_Lost him?_" By now tears were falling from Téa's eyes so hard it looked like she had been crying for hours. Her shoulders were shuddering, and she had to put her hands on the ground for support. "_How? To what?_"

Joey willed his tears to lessen enough for him to speak. He thought carefully for a moment, searching for the best way to word his thoughts. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he spoke.

"Téa. We lost him… to Slypher. Yugi is now a slave to the Gods."


	14. Thunderstroke

SC: Whoo! I'm still riding the high wave from that last chapter. It's got me all goose-bump-y! Anyway, I had an unanticipated Reader reaction to that last chapter (more like Reader rage! Some of you guys got mad!). I didn't expect such a turnout. I wanted such a turnout, but I didn't expect it.

A note before we move on: I am well aware of how to spell Slypher. I know it is spelled Slifer in the English anime/on the card (I have the card, darn it). However, I have my reasons why I spell it this way: one, his real name is Osiris, so in technicality Slifer is wrong too; two, there is no way in bloody Hades that I'm about to honor the guy whom helped to ruin the YGO dub by typing his last name every sentence; and three, the spelling Slypher just looks more god-like and mighty. Seriously, look at them! Slifer, Slypher. Slifer, Slypher. It just looks better spelled Slypher! (At least to me…)

Attention! This chapter and the next two or three chapters _do not follow the game plot_. We are diverging from the game so that I can wrap up this bit of plot. After everything here is settled, we'll go back to the game plot.

I just hope I don't get my head chewed off before then…

**Thunderstroke**

Between two gentle hills swathed in rippling grass nestled a small village. The houses were made of wood and straw, held together with mud or bits of rope. They lined the only road through town and had many awnings so their inhabitants could set up shop and sell their wares to whomever happened to travel through. A hundred people visiting the village at one time would be a grace. It was quiet here, only occasionally disrupted by they braying of sheep or the laughter of a gaggle of young children chasing each other through the street.

At the crown of the tallest hill was a huge tree, its boughs as thick as a man's torso. It had long since died, leaving only its hard, dried up trunk and branches, and yet the villagers had never cut it down. The trees around it had been cleared away, but that one remained to serve as a reminder of their past. It was legend amongst them that the tree was the marker for their town, the reason their ancestors had chosen this place to settle down. Many believed that it was guarding the village from evil, as disease and famine had never plagued them in all the years it had stood. It had a plethora of names, from "Our Watchful Protector" to "That Ol' Tree." Celebrations were often held at its base, and to many children climbing its towering limbs was a badge of true greatness.

Soon the sky began to darken over the small village. The farmers moved their sheep into their sheds; the shopkeepers took their wares inside. Life in this village did not prolong much after darkness. Candles in the windows were blown out no more than an hour after the sun had set, and then all was frozen in the night. In the silvery moonlight the image seemed unreal, a flat, too-still world drawn in strokes of quicksilver.

Thick clouds rolled over the moon and blotted out its silver light. The stars in turn winked out as the ashen clouds continued to fill the sky. These clouds looked heavy with rain, yet were traveling so quickly it seemed they would pass by before letting loose their load of water. Once there was no more sky, the clouds halted. They solidified the heavens and became a seal against all light. Thunder rumbled weakly overhead, waiting.

In the darkness the old tree on the hill was a towering tangle of twisted iron, creaking and groaning with the night wind that had arisen. The thunder stirred more anxiously now. Suddenly a bolt of red lightning lanced downward from the solid clouds and struck the tree. A deafening crack sounded as several smaller limbs snapped off from the force and fell to the ground. What remained of the tree began to burn at the ends of its branches. In the center of this wreath of flame, something stirred.

"_Ah, yes. I remember this place._" Eyes aglow from the growing fire studied the distant village in thought. "_The mortals sojourning here during my reign rejoiced upon my banishment and settled permanently. They celebrated, blasphemed my name, and wished all forms of torture and ridicule upon me._"

By now the tree was thoroughly burning, choking the air with smoke. Someone down in the village must have awakened with the sound because there came a cry of "Fire! Our Guardian is on fire!" People were rushing out of their homes and running to the top of the hill, carrying buckets of water or sand.

"_Torture and ridicule, entities well acquainted with me. I watched these mortals from my prison in heaven, surveyed as they replaced their thoughts of malcontent with those of happiness and duty. They lived on, forgetting that they had once defiled my name and made a mockery of my power, until not one soul remembered my existence in times past. I cursed them then, for their naïveté._" Lips curled back to reveal glistening fangs. "_I now invoke my curse._"

The villager at the head of the rush reached the top and stared up at the tree in disbelief. He couldn't believe it; the tree that had been here as long as he'd lived was now burning away… He then saw something, an outline, distorted by the smoke and embers.

"There's something there!" he cried to the others as they reached the top of the hill. They looked and saw the same shape he did standing on one of the branches. A slight wind shifted the smoke and a pair of eyes became visible. "It's a person!"

As soon as he said it, he realized that those eyes were an unholy yellow, unwavering, brighter than the fire on the tree and inexplicably more terrifying. A rattling screech came from the thing in the tree, a sound distinctly inhuman, accompanied by just as inhuman a voice:

"_Nay, mortal, a God!_" it shrieked, and dove upon him.

* * *

Everything swirled; the earth itself rocked back and forth beneath her like the deck of a ship cast in a storm. Nothing had a solid footing on her: time, space, her thoughts… not even her heart could keep still as Téa listened to the tale of Yugi's fate. Half the time she was so numb to it all that she would blank on whoever was speaking and he would have to repeat himself. She tried her best to understand it all, and yet all the while her heart was miles away, crying, screaming out a thousand _Why?_s.

_Why?_ Why had Yugi done it? What in a thousand worlds could have driven him so far from himself and so deeply into such evil? Téa couldn't bring herself to comprehend an answer.

Tristan, still the least gripped by sorrow (though closer to it after a second encounter), drew their attention. He reminded them that the longer they stayed here inert, the more time Slypher would have to do who knows what. The god had proclaimed his desire for destruction previously. They knew he would not wait to enact it. So far, it was unclear to them how much power he possessed while in Yugi's body, but he was undoubtedly only going to get stronger. Already he proved he could command lightning. Who knew what other forces would bend to his will? If they waited, their chances of saving Yugi would diminish. On this they all immediately agreed.

How the strands of friendship, passive in times of peace, do tighten in the throes of darkness.

The four of them could not do anything without Mai, Fizdis, and Shimon. The first task was to reunite with them. They too would be needed in the effort to recover Yugi's heart.

* * *

The first man had been felled easily, claws thrust cleanly through his gasping throat. Pausing for the slightest of moments, hands still submerged in the man, Slypher relished in the feeling of blood against his scales. So long, so excruciatingly _long_ had it been since his last killing, since the last time he could so freely strike as he wished. A rough gurgling sound came from the dead man's open mouth as frothy blood bubbled up from within.

Clear of the smoke and fire, Slypher's form could be seen, spikes, fangs, claws all gleaming red. The other villagers were struck with horror. "A demon!" Not one of them had ever seen such a terrible creature, yet all at once they knew: such was a creature borne from Hell.

One of them, brave soul, stepped forward. "You have destroyed our Guardian! You have destroyed that which protected us from evil, and now you have come to unleash all it has shielded us from! We will not stand for that!" He hurled the water in the bucket he held at Slypher and then charged outright.

The water came, and yet Slypher simply _bent_, moved so lithely that not one droplet met scale. Just as effortlessly his tail came around to the front. The charging man screeched to a halt to have the point of the blade press against his throat.

"_You are right; you will not stand._" The blade drove through and created a glorious fountain of blood. "_None may stand beneath the will of God!_"

There were several loud gasps and screams as Slypher yanked his tail out forcefully, thus severing the man's head. None of the villagers could move. They were all paralyzed, enraptured by fear and those unholy auric _eyes_. "_As your ancestors condemned me to an eternity of agony,_" Slypher spoke in a voice more forceful than the roaring flames behind him, "_so shall I condemn thee to the fire and ice of Hades!_"

Blood. The Romans had less of it on their swords than did the claws and tail of that hatred incarnate. The song of a thousand men's blades whirling in battle sings quieter than did his tail that night. His whole effort, his whole essence surged forth into every killing, every single soul he slew. Each lasted only a few seconds, yet each was a few seconds of the heaven he had been so denied. Elderly, slashed down by his tail. Young, screaming as he tore them open and killed from the inside. Those that tried to flee, feeling the tender snap of their backs and neck. He omitted not one soul, and he made sure each was rendered into an unrecognizable mangled mess. These were no longer the bodies of men. They were shreds of flesh, splinters of bone, and blobs of internal matter, all basted with that sweet red wine.

As the guardian tree burned away into the night Slypher relished in all his creation. Everywhere death, smoke, and blood. Thunder above proclaimed the victory of God in a sickening chorus. He sat, and in the midst of those he killed he licked himself. He licked the blood from his hands and claws. He licked every last drop from his tail. When all was done he tipped his head back and laughed.

* * *

As the four of them raced to find Mai, Fizdis, and Shimon again, the sky rattled with thunder. It shook them in the air even as they flew. There were no clouds in the sky.

It was a message meant for them. The thunder sang of murder. Slypher had already killed. He was already unleashing his thousand-year rage upon the world, and barely an hour had passed. They quickened their pace. Their chance stretched thinner, and their bonds grew tighter.

* * *

The thunder sounded in another place. Here, to the southwest, another town quivered down to its foundations. The night rocked, but no one fretted the sound. Those out and about looked up at the sky at the sound but did not think anything of it. This was a city forged of stone. It thrived on business and trade. People strode up and down the streets all night, using their time off from work to chat with friends and stop by the local pubs. Dark clouds were coming: another storm no doubt. After all, it was the rainy season. They shrugged it off with the intention to wait it out with a few rounds of ale.

The tallest building in town was an old church with a steeple that doubled as a clock tower. The hands chimed midnight, the witching hour. A twisted bolt of red lightning struck the cross atop the tower, yet because no thunder heralded its arrival it went unnoticed in the town below. Leaning on the cross with an air of half-amusement Slypher swept his mirror gaze across the endless blocks of stone below.

"_A civilization of stone_." The faltering light of the stars darkened on his reflective eyes. Clouds had almost completely covered the town. Slypher's brow creased the slightest bit. "_Stone_," he repeated, "_a labyrinth… Impossible, to lure all these souls to my wrath without effort. Most assuredly the fleetest souls, in cowardice worthy of their ancestor's descendants, would drive away their brethren souls nearby… a hunt, thus_." A sliver of fang caught the last star's gleam. "_A savor though it is_."

The god clad in mortal flesh stood fully. "_Many souls cling together here. Here may be a place that I can use to my advantage…_" His tail curled up behind him, poised like a scorpion's. The wind swayed through his stolen locks for a moment before he drove the point of his tail into his own shoulder. The blade sank into his flesh, blood dripping from the gash. Slypher did not flinch. He removed the blade and repeated the action to the second shoulder. He stood unfazed as rivers of crimson splattered on the roof and stained the whitewashed cross. With a wicked keenness he peeled off two scales from the back of his hand, then planted one each into the open wounds. He held for a moment thus, reveling in the pouring blood, its scent invigorating him. After some moments had passed a bolt came down to him, struck him, and revitalized him. The wounds closed up as though they had never been.

Slypher inhaled the blood-tainted air. It was a choice prelude to lightning.

In the streets below a young couple held hands as they traipsed through town. They laughed lightly and spoke words of love to each other in soft voices. As they passed an alleyway the young woman tugged on the arm of her paramour and pointed into the darkness. She thought she had seen something within its depths. Not one to leave his love frightened the young man stepped broadly into the alley. The young woman followed uneasily just behind.

After finding nothing the young man turned back to reassure his love. He found her wound inseparably beneath crimson coils and diamond needles. "_A fine choice for the first death_…" the demon holding her hissed. The young man had no time to cry out as the demon pierced her throat with its fangs. It was only a sheer instant before a blade plunged through his head.

Two souls dead, out of the hundreds that lived within the stone labyrinth. Slypher was in no mood to be patient with his wrath and hunt out each soul, yet revealing himself would only scatter them, as he had already assessed. This did not trouble the God of Heaven, however. The rumbling clouds overhead assured him that his third option awaited his slightest command. He leapt straight up and landed on all fours on the nearest roof.

"_Let us now see how the mortals will react to the sky's anger_…"

The sky opened itself to his will. It became an extension of himself, an entity that served him so acutely that not one breath existed between his thought and its action. He accepted the heavens' servitude and raised his hand, a single clawed finger poised above the unsuspecting town. A flick of his wrist sealed the town to his ordinance. Eight pillars of red lightning, to each of the directions of the earth, struck in a ring around the town's perimeter. Rather than dissipate soon after, they held in place, towering columns of electricity that chained the earth to the sky. They would hold the mortals within their boundaries for their master's purposes.

"_Now that they cannot flee, they are but prey_." Slypher's eyes sparkled with the crackling red light. Already people on the streets below were panicking at the sight of the lightning and convoluted sky. He watched them point at the sky and scramble about with divertisement set into the angles of his face. Many of them fled inside nearby buildings to escape the vengeful "storm."

Slypher's tail twisted and waved behind him, filled with a restless excitement. "_They believe a stone edifice to be their savior… Albeit veracity as a defense to my onslaught, iwis it is nothing against my vengeance…_" His whole body began crackling with red sparks. With eyes ablaze, he let loose a screech above the town and released the heavens.

SH-KRASH!

A fork came down upon one of the buildings. The force blew the structure apart, glass and stone flying outward in all directions. The people that had been inside were crushed under debris or incinerated, and others in the streets surrounding it crumpled as missiles of rock struck them in the head or chest. The screams that arose and the jolt in the air galvanized Slypher even more.

"_Hell begins…_" he hissed.

He leapt from the rooftop and landed in the street. He spied a man nearby, bleeding from his head and moaning. Slypher vaporized him with lightning summoned from his hand. Seconds later half a dozen bolts came down and destroyed the nearest buildings. More screams filled the air.

This continued. Slypher unleashed electricity to drive the people into the open and then laid waste to them with claws and tail. Each soul slain increased his own power. He could feel it growing steadily as the number he killed climbed higher. The seeds he had sown slurped up the energy ravenously. Already their roots had burrowed deep into his shoulders. A hundred souls each they required. Once he gave them this they would bloom like marvelous flowers.

Slypher came upon the church. Inside dozens of people huddled together in terror of what preyed outside. He smirked his fanged smirk and fired a blast of lightning from his tail. Unlike the other buildings in town the church was made of mostly wood. It exploded in an instant; everything that didn't burn up immediately was set ablaze. The roof, a mass of flames, collapsed on its occupants. Slypher felt their deaths and swelled. Thirty-nine souls killed with one shot. He was close now, and could feel his back tingling.

He watched the wreckage burn for a while. The haunting dance of orange fire and sparks of red electricity atop splintered black fields played before him. Combined these things pushed him to muse over his new reality. Once before, a thousand years ago, in his prior reign, these things had been his constant. The lightning was his eternal servant. Fire arose wherever the lightning appeared, destroying alongside it. Together they raged with him against all those that would defy him. Now, even after all these centuries, they were still by his side.

This reign would be different, thought Slypher, his nostalgia fading away and returning to his smooth arrogance. Not only had he gained his freedom, but also those that had sealed him away so long ago were long dead. He sneered at their memory, those mages that had driven him from the earth. The act in itself had been agonizing enough, let alone the torture he had endured in the prison they drove him to. He smirked to himself, finally turning away from the blaze. No, _that_ would be a worry to him no longer. Now that he was of mortal flesh, he couldn't be banished from the mortal plane.

Speaking of mortal flesh… "_Despite my divinity, this body is still mortal… It is still subject to all of its mortal conventions._" For some time now Slypher had felt something odd centered on his stomach. "_What is this state called? Ah, yes… hunger. A taxing mortal need… Soon I will make this body immune to such pointless demands. For now, however, it can be dealt with, and at this time it hinders me not…_"

He felt several more surges of power within. Some of the people had tried to run from the city, only to have great arms break away from the pillars and smother them.

So far in his killing, Slypher had gone easily on his prey, ending their lives quickly. Now though a wicked idea was in his head, a way to kill two birds with one stone. Screeching, he jumped up and leapt across the remaining rooftops.

A young girl, shy of twelve, grasped her father's hand. "Father!"

"Shh, my girl, it's all right, it's all right," the father whispered back, stroked the top of her sandy head.

"My father, why have the gods sent us this wrath? What sins have we committed?"

He pulled her through the streets quickly. "Evil appears where it is least deserved, my daughter." He glanced at the roaring flames where the church had once stood as they ran past it. His wife and two sons had gone there for safety. He had stayed behind to pull his only daughter free from the stone that had been their home. His throat tightened but he continued to run.

"_Evil is naught but a double-edged sword. What you say strikes you was stricken by you first._"

"What?" The father heard the voice but had no time to respond as something heavy slammed into him. He fell to the cobbled street, his forehead smacking it hard. He just heard his daughter scream before blacking out.

The sight of a blood-colored creature standing before her immediately silenced the girl's scream. It had yellow eyes like an animal's that bore into her obsessively. Its tail lashed the air as though it were its own being, like a snake eager to share in the creature it coexisted with's killings. It stood on bandy legs radiating an aura of dense heat.

"A demon," she breathed, "sent by the gods… Tell me, why did the gods send you to punish us so?" she asked of the creature bravely.

"_Naïve girl_," it hissed in reply, "_I_ am _God_."

She could not move as it seized her. Sparks danced around its frame and jumped to her. The static burned her arms and legs with a fire unlike anything she had ever felt. It was not just a fire of pain. It was the fire of a hatred that had smoldered for aeons. Soon the sparks did their job: they paralyzed her, leaving her immobile in the demon's grasp.

Slypher grasped the girl tightly. He didn't care that his claws dug into her shoulders and made her bleed. Yes, this girl seemed a fit enough choice. She would take care of his mortal body and its _conventions_. Though she couldn't move, her eyes were still open, and they widened in horror as Slypher bent down and lowered his teeth to her thigh. Ivory fangs traced faint lines against her skin.

Slypher bit down.

Through her paralysis the girl screamed. Blood pooled into Slypher's mouth and he swallowed. The taste was even more luscious than he had remembered. Holding her flesh between his teeth he wrenched his head back. A great chunk tore from her thigh; its shredded ends flung droplets of blood everywhere. The girl howled, tears poured from her eyes, and yet she could not move an inch from the demon's claws.

Slypher swallowed and licked his fangs freely. "_How arresting_," he thought aloud. "_Perhaps 'hunger' is not so useless a thing_…" Blood was filling up the wound he had created and Slypher bent to lap it up. He tasted iron as the warm liquid drained down his throat. He enjoyed its flavor, as it was not unlike the coppery scent that filled the air each time one of his lightning bolts struck. Soon the flow of blood slowed. Slypher remedied that by ripping off another piece of meat. Again the girl howled but heaven was deaf to her.

The father lying on the street stirred. He groaned as the pain in his head stabbed at his brain again and again. He laid there immobile, trying to remember what had happened. Then he heard his daughter's scream. With a speed he should not have had in his state, he rolled over quickly – and saw the most horrifying thing in his life. Nothing. Nothing in the world was as frightening to him as this. He would rather see her dead and at peace than alive while a monster devoured her.

"_Demon!_" he roared. "_Spawn of Hell!_" Slypher turned to look over his shoulder. Blood dripped from his mouth and the piece of flesh he held in his teeth. The father felt a wave of nausea overtake him along with trembling legs. "You destroy everything in your path, man or building! You have stolen the lives of those I love tonight! You slowly take the life of my daughter while I stand here! But I _will not_ let you steal her soul by tormenting her with a death such as this!"

Slypher chewed openly and swallowed before answering. "_Her soul I have no interest in_," he snarled, "_but yours can be put to my use._"

"Father, run!" screamed the girl, but it was too late: without so much as moving from where he stood Slypher lashed his tail across the man and left a gash from his neck to his thigh. He gurgled up blood and pitched backwards. A lake of crimson formed around him.

Slypher felt a rush in his power. "_Yes, yes!_" That had been the two hundredth soul. The two scales he had planted within himself were finally ready to emerge. Slypher pulled back from the girl and let her drop to the ground. She watched with wide eyes as his back drew into an arch. His shoulder blades bulged and shifted as though there were something alive inside fighting to get out. Then without warning there came a sickening ripping sound: the ripping of flesh. In a shower of blood a pair of wings burst from his shoulders, unfurling into the tainted night air. Like bat's wings they were crimson leather stretched across pointed bone. Rivulets of blood traced crisscrossed paths across new scales and dripped onto the stone below. As a dog shakes excess water from its coat, so did he remove the blood from his wings. They hung from his shoulder blades, half-open and limp.

Slypher eyed them with a frown. "_So. They are not quite ready for flight. They will require more souls to develop the muscle structures necessary._" He turned back to look at the girl lying helpless on the street. "_Yet that is easily accomplished_…"

The night fell into blackness. The only light came from yellow hollows and the glint of pearled fangs.

* * *

"You need to move faster," said Mai.

"Like this?"

"No, faster!" she yelled as Fizdis tried to dodge her Harpie's swift kicks. To occupy their time while waiting for Yugi and the others to return, Mai was teaching Fizdis some battle techniques. It was already dark, but she wasn't sleepy. She couldn't afford to be. Night was when Scott's army was most likely to swoop in from the rear. Yugi had trusted her to be a defense, and she wasn't about to let him down. Sure, it was as boring as a day when the mall was closed, but for now she could tolerate standing around and waiting. Though, she promised herself to make Yugi put her on the front lines next time. She was itching for a good fight to show up all these cocky boys, mainly Joey. Oh, how delightful Joey's face would be when she destroyed more enemy monsters than he did… She couldn't wait. For now, though, she was satisfied with watching Fizdis and Uraby combat her Harpie Lady. Uraby ran quickly, trying to dodge and strike simultaneously, but he couldn't compete with his winged opponent.

"Stop!" called Fizdis. Uraby skidded to a halt, just before the Harpie dove. She swooped but missed, and in that time Uraby rammed his head into her.

"Good job!" Mai said with a smile.

"You are improving," said Shimon, beaming.

Mai nodded. "I'll bet next time you'll land a hit on her before she has a chance to even move!" Honestly, she was proud of Fizdis. She was really starting to get the hang of combat. Before she had been uneasy, more reaction than proaction. Now there was a glimmer in her eyes that arose with her success and made her shine with confidence.

Just then, a ground-shaking roll of thunder filled the air. Fizdis let out an "Eep!" and clung to Uraby's neck. All three resistance members looked up at the sky. Even the stars seemed to shudder at the sound.

"What was that?" asked Fizdis.

"Mai!" They turned and saw Red-Eyes Black Dragon flying straight for them. Atop it, Joey's vibrant blonde hair flared in the wind. Written all over his face, filling in the sound of his words, was panic.

"Joey!" Mai blurted. "What on Earth are you doing here?"

"We have no time," he said. "Get on Curse of Dragon _now_. We're leaving."

"What's going on? Tell me!"

"_We have no time._" The rigidity in his voice scared her so much that she did it without question. Red-Eyes picked Fizdis up by the back of her robe and practically threw her onto Curse of Dragon's back. Then it took off immediately, flying with all the speed it had before it landed. Curse of Dragon and Kaiser Dragon were forced to flap frantically to catch up.

Mai steered her dragon to fly next to Red-Eyes. "Joey! _What_ is going_ on?_" she demanded.

He wouldn't look her in the eye. "Did you hear his thunder?"

"We heard thunder, but _his?_ Whose?"

"Where did it come from?"

"Joey, it's dark! How do you expect me to know–?"

"_Where?_"

"Master Joey, I believe it came from the west," Shimon cut in.

Joey still didn't look at any of them. "Good. That's where we're going." Red-Eyes let out a roar deep in his throat. He swooped suddenly out of his path, heading now to the west.

By now, Mai was angry. "Joey, what are we doing? _Tell me!_ Where are the others?"

He muttered to himself. "The west. Good. He hasn't moved…"

"Are you listening to me?" Mai huffed. "Where are Téa, Tristan, and Ryou? What about Yugi? Why did you leave him?"

Joey finally looked at her, and she saw in his eyes something hollow, empty… was it despair?

She looked lower. Around his neck were two dark purple stones, as dull as ordinary rocks. They hung like dead weights against his chest. She took in a sharp breath.

"Those are Yugi's…"

She looked back up at Joey's face. His expression only verified her perceptions. "Something's happened to him." Joey averted his gaze, confirming her statement without speaking a single word. Mai felt an unexplainable wave come over her. "It can't be…"

"Something happened to Yugi?" exclaimed Fizdis. If her immediate concern for him hadn't presided she would have been stunned into silence. "Is he all right? Is he hurt?"

"He's… I… I can't answer that," murmured Joey, his eyes fixed onto Red-Eyes's back.

Mai heard his faint words and took them the worst way possible. "You can't mean that he's dea–"

"_No!_" Joey countered in a voice not his own. Mai shut up and watched as he diminished until he was hardly there at all. "But death might be better."

They flew forever westward, until into their sights came a hunkering dark mass. A cloud of black smoke suffocated the earth. It smeared the air and stole the breath of all those viewing it. As they neared they saw sharp protrusions of stone scattered like gravestones across the area.

"It… It's a city!" blurted Fizdis.

"It's been completely destroyed." Mai glanced fretfully again at Joey. _By what?_

They landed at the fringes of the ruined city. Beneath their feet the soil was singed black. As they stepped carefully into the city they passed over a trench carved forcefully around it like a moat, its bottom blackened and cracked with heat. The ground here radiated warmth to them. It had been created recently.

Destruction permeated the air they breathed. The stone buildings had been so destroyed that the ground lay barren where they stood and the once-clear streets were filled with rubble. Even though they searched in earnest, the resistance couldn't find a building still intact. Everything had been decimated.

"Look at this place…" breathed Mai, her words like the spectral mist now rolling in from the east.

"Joey!" called a voice. Everyone started and turned to see the owner. It was Ryou, his brilliant hair dulled to pewter in the darkened atmosphere. Beside him were Tristan and Téa, the latter on Seiyaryu's back. Even though there was still a fair distance between them Mai could see a lifeless look in Seiyaryu's eyes. Sparkling sapphire, now a dull navy color, looked on the world listlessly. Its angular features curved away into sadness. Even the warm pink of its scales had grayed along with the rest. As it paced slowly towards her Mai couldn't help but think of a wilted rose swaying in a winter wind.

Fizdis rushed over to them, eager to reunite with them and perhaps work out of them the news Joey couldn't say, but when she saw their expressions she herself could say nothing. They were looking at the razed town as though their very hearts were the things so defiled.

Téa's eyes flickered with a dozen unreadable emotions at once. "Oh…" Tears began welling up against desolate sapphires. "Yugi…"

"We were too late to stop him," Ryou whispered as water threatened to fill his eyes as well.

Mai looked around at all of them and was flabbergasted. "Stop him?" she asked. "You can't mean that _Yugi_ did this, do you?"

There was silence, and in that silence they heard a lone note waver on the smoldering air like a bird's lamenting peep after a forest fire. "_Help…_"

Everyone stiffened. "Did you hear that?" asked Tristan.

"It came from over here!" Joey was already bounding off in the direction of the sound. He moved as quickly as he could over the jagged stones and soon came upon a slightly more open area. Off to the left, half buried by debris, a young girl lied semi-conscious with thin trails of blood etched onto her face.

"Holy crap! It's a girl!" he cried over his shoulder. "She's hurt!" Joey turned back to the girl and knelt beside her. "Are you okay?"

The girl's eyelids sagged over glazed eyes. "_My father_," she murmured, her hand reaching weakly for something in the distance. Joey followed her arm and saw a corpse soaking in a thick pool of blood. He blanched. The man was dead, and yet the girl kept calling out for him. "_Father, papa… Don't be so far away… Come back…_"

The others arrived and were shocked to see the slaughtered man. Fizdis swayed on her feet and clutched onto the nearest thing, which was Ryou. She gripped his jacket and pressed her eyes to his shoulder so she couldn't see. He patted her arm gently even though he himself felt like doing much the same thing.

"Tristan, help me get this off of her," said Joey, motioning to the pile of rocks that covered her from the waist down. While the two of them set to work grunting and heaving the stones off of her, Téa took up Joey's spot kneeling at the girl's side.

"Don't worry," she soothed. "You're going to be okay. We're going to help you." She said these things, and yet her dimmed eyes mirrored the state of her heart. This poor girl – caught up in the destruction, a part of it against her own will – was like Yugi. Téa saw what Slypher had done to the town. She saw the man he had killed. She knew there were countless others like him. All of this done by Yugi's hands, but not his heart. What little remained of her fractured spirit despaired over such fates both he and this girl had been dealt.

The girl's eyes fluttered and swiveled unseeingly up to her. "_No_…" she mumbled. "_I am going to die… The gods have willed it…_"

"You're not gonna' die!" countered Joey as he and Tristan lifted another rock. "I don't care what the hell the gods say! We ain't gonna' let it happen!"

"_The god that came to destroy us did so because it is his divine judgment. It is our fate to die_."

"The hell that demon's a god!" roared Joey. He couldn't believe the things this girl was saying. She was so young, and yet she accepted her predestined death as would a man at the end of his days. "There is no 'divine judgment' about any of this! He just wants to kill everyone!" He heaved away the last rock, and choked on what was revealed beneath.

A great puddle of blood greeted his eyes first, slowly expanding with each drop that spilled from the wound in her thigh. When it hit Joey just _what_ that wound was, he felt himself sicken. Never had he seen an injury bad enough to make him nauseous at the sight of it until he saw her leg. Bone. That was all that was there: an off-white rod stained with red and brown. The skin and muscles around it were gone, peeled away like a banana's soft cover. Below her knee everything was normal, her flesh still intact. Her entire thigh was simply _gone_. Gristly strands of tendons stuck out from the edges of that empty space. Their twisted ends indicated the force that had been used to rip them in half. Worse yet, Joey now saw, there were incisions on her bone as though something had been scratching at it. He realized with horror what they were.

Teeth marks.

_Teeth marks_.

"Shit." The word was out of his mouth before Joey had even fully grasped the situation. Only something with powerful teeth could leave such marks on bone, and he knew what. He could visualize in his mind with gruesome clarity the inch-long fangs carving them as they gnawed on helpless prey.

Téa's hand instantly covered her mouth. "Oh my God–!"

"Shit, shit, shit!" Joey swore again. "Damn him! Damn that infernal demon! Damn that no good demon _Slypher!_" (1)

"_Slypher?_" Mai echoed, shock evident in her eyes. "Slypher the Sky Dragon? The God? What does he have anything to do with anything?" When no one made to answer she moved and stood demandingly in front of Joey. "I want to know what's going on, Joey. I want to know what happened to Yugi, what happened to this town, and why you won't tell me about it."

Joey looked at her, defeated. His throat worked hard to force out his next words: "Mai. I know I should've told you what happened first thing, but I just couldn't…

"I'll keep a long story short. We faced Scott in the town, just like we planned. After a… turn of events… Yugi summoned Slypher." He held up his hand to stop Mai from exclaiming in surprise. "And afterwards, Slypher decided he didn't want to go back…"

"He wanted revenge on the continent," said Ryou. "He needed a means to stay here so he wouldn't have to go back to heaven."

"And now he's using Yugi to destroy everything…" Téa finished sadly.

Everyone looked down at the young girl. She was dead.

"He's using Lord Yugi? By what means?" asked Shimon.

"The worst one possible," Joey answered. "Slypher's possessed him and is using his body to kill."

Another silence gripped them. Those just hearing the truth were shocked, and those who already knew it were more deeply moved by sadness.

Fizdis was the first of them to speak. "We must get him back!"

"We all want him back," said Ryou softly. "But after seeing this," deep eyes flickered across the city ruins, "it almost seems imposs–"

"_No_. Don't even say that." Joey's eyes were as bitingly bitter as his words. "It ain't impossible because we have to do it. Not just because we want to… We have to get him back to save the continent from Slypher. We have to get him back to stop Slypher from killing thousands of people. We have to getYugi back to save him from being controlled by a demon."

The blonde's speech lifted the hearts of those around him up from the dark waters of hopelessness they had been sinking into. Re-ignited sparks of determination burned in their eyes just as the sun was cresting the horizon. New light shining on the town dispersed the tainted haze that had constricted the air. As they breathed in the new dawn, Joey spoke again to complete their ties:

"It will take all of us to take on Slypher, but we won't stop until we do."

* * *

(One) – This sentence (the whole paragraph even) made me die. You may think it strange, but I have this major issue with curse words. I hate them. I refuse to say them. I go ahead and put them in my stories to be realistic (since no one but me screams "Fishcake!" in stressful situations), but this is the first time I've ever used the s-word in spoken, written, or typed English. It killed me, but I thought it was the only way to capture the moment.

SC: WARLHAAGGLH! I'm so sorry. I meant to get this finished faster. I really did. The end-of-the-school-year blah caught me, though. I'm sorry… Plus, this chapter annoyed the crud out of me because it doesn't sound like my style at all. I know I can't really be the judge, but when I look at this chapter it just doesn't seem to follow the previous chapters at all. Argh.

I'll be writing like heck now, though. From the day I post this chapter, school for me ends the next day. That means: SUMMER. Anyone who's been here long enough may remember how quickly the chapters came over the summer. Yep.

This chapter was supposed to be a little boring… The next chapter is where the face-off takes place. There'll be some action then. Hopefully I won't ruin it with my awful writing of fight scenes.

Thank you for reading, and please review! I'll need them while I visit New England/Canada so I won't be so homesick!


	15. Call to the Gods

SC: (claps) Whoo! Are you guys ready for some action?

Oh, and I also want to apologize for not putting up a warning about the violence in the last chapter. I really was going to warn you all about it, but I forgot… heh heh… I shall console you by telling you that the last chapter was the most graphic one in terms of violence for the whole story. It won't get that bad (or good, depending on how you look at it) ever again.

I am mad at ff-dot-net because they mess up the punctuation whenever one puts sentences between /-marks. I liked that formatting for Mahado's speech! Now I have to change it; stupid site…

On with the show! (dances)

**Call to the Gods**

Slypher looked up from his dripping hands. He had just finished ripping apart the last inhabitant of his most recently targeted village – not that there had been many inhabitants to deal with. Compared to his previous targets, this village was an insignificant speck. None of the buildings had even been made of stone. Irked by the lack of a challenge, Slypher had unleashed chains of lightning upon the town to set it ablaze. All around him flames roared and tore into the thick beams supporting the tiny houses, all the while belching choking pillars of smoke into the air. Most of the people living there died in the fire, and he took care of the rest manually.

His scales shimmered in the warped, hot air. The heat helped to offset the approaching chill of night. Slypher's first day of revenge was quickly slipping away with the last of the sunlight. The god licked his left fang in annoyance. Nearly twenty-four hours had passed, and he had only taken care of four mortal cities, three of them pathetically small. Furthermore, he felt as though something odd had overtaken his body, a feeling that had not been present in his earlier hours of destruction. He knew it was not the return of the so-called hunger – though he knew that would eventually plague him again – yet he could not put his finger on what it was. He felt… delayed. It seemed to him that his tail strokes were getting slower, or at least his mind was not directing them as quickly as it had been. It wasn't due to weakness, for he still commanded his full power, but what power he had was stretched thinly throughout his frame. Whatever the feeling was made his body eat up more of his energy than normal to perform the same tasks, effectively draining him.

A thought dawned on him. "_It cannot be!_" Slypher spat in annoyance. "_Certainly my divinity is enough to ward off mortal fatigue!_" The sudden heaviness of his eyelids and the way the world teetered in and out of focus told him it was not enough. He snarled angrily. "_Another troublesome need of this mortal body… one that impedes upon my vengeance. I must focus the souls of my next victims on eliminating it._" He looked through the flames at the horizon. In the distance was a stone castle, situated atop a hill. Slypher smirked and snapped his fingers. Instantly the clouds above the burning town darkened, filling with thunder and his crimson lightning. He called a bolt down to himself and was gone a second later.

A crimson fork struck at the base of the old castle. Slypher stepped smoothly through the rusted gate that had once been the door. Inside it was cold enough to see the sparkling mist of his breath each time he exhaled. The walls and floor were damp and the tips of small plants could be seen poking up between stones. As he paced slowly about the great hall he could hear no sound aside from his own footfalls. The castle was devoid of life.

Slypher went all the way to the back of the hall, where the shadows were thickest. He found a place next to one of the towering stone columns supporting the ceiling and lowered himself to the floor. If his mortal body was tired, then for now all he could do was appease it by resting. As he curled his tail around himself for warmth he flashed an unseen smirk. "_It is not as though I cannot use this time for my own gain_…"

He fell asleep just as the last of the sun faded away.

* * *

"Here's how I see it," said Joey as they flew. "Slypher's goin' around to these towns and killing everyone in them. It takes time for him to do that. Since he has to stop and we don't, if we follow his trail we'll eventually catch up to him."

"That's all fine and good," replied Tristan from behind him, "but that still leaves people getting killed."

Joey sighed heavily. "I know that, Tristan. We don't really have much of a choice other than that."

Mai looked over at him. "So what's the plan for when we _do_ catch up to him?" In Yugi's absence, Joey had assumed the role of leader. His eyes narrowed as he stared over Red-Eyes's head at the starry sky in front of him.

"We get him out of Yugi and send him back to where he came from," he answered.

"And how do we get him out of Yugi?"

No one said anything. Truthfully, none of them had any idea how to remove Slypher from Yugi's body. They knew they couldn't just use physical force to shove him out, and they doubted asking nicely would work either.

"We'll come to that when we find him," said Joey quietly.

"If we ever do. We haven't seen any sign of him at all since the last town," said Ryou with a hint of sadness in his voice. "He could be miles away…"

"Or he could be right here." Tristan pointed suddenly to something in the distance. A wavering strip of orange lit the edge of the land like the unfeeling glow of a setting dark sun. A thick cloud of smoke above it obscured the stars' light. "How's that for a sign? It looks like he's having his merry way right over there."

"That's a fire," observed Shimon. "He must be attacking another town."

"Well guys, it looks like here's where we make our move." Joey glared at the nearing horizon with hatred burning in his eyes. "Let's teach that demon a lesson for all he's done!" Red-Eyes roared and flew full-speed toward the flames.

They reached the town and found it completely consumed by flames. The structure of the original houses couldn't be seen at all beneath the blaze. For all they were, they resembled towering fireballs more than the homes of people. The resistance passed over the town slowly, searching for anyone that might have been spared, yet they knew Slypher had taken care of everyone. A solemn silence hung over their heads in respect for those that had died.

"Damn it!" Joey swore suddenly, startling everyone. "We were too late again!" He punched his fist into the opposite palm. "Damn that Slypher…!"

Ryou looked around sadly at the burning town. "But… He must be nearby. Look how high these flames are. They wouldn't be that high if they had been burning for a long time…"

"Look!" cried Fizdis. "Over there on that hill!" Everyone turned and followed her arm to an old, worn castle slumped on the crown of the hill. It was dark, barely visible against the black night sky, but above it were thick storm clouds that rumbled with thunder. Occasional forks of crimson lightning would lash out from the clouds and bathe the hilltop in their deadly light.

Mai swallowed. "You don't think that's him, do you?"

"Creepy castle, a storm, lightning… It's a bit cliché, but I say who else could it be?" Tristan crossed his arms and nodded to himself. "Wherever that dragon goes, his storm's not far behind."

"That has to be him," Joey said darkly. He turned around to face all of his borrowed forces. "Change of plan: we're splitting up. Ryou, Tristan, and I will go in after him alone."

"What?" exclaimed Mai. "You can't be serious! You can't fight a god with three people!"

"But a god can kill seven without breaking a sweat!" he hollered back, and Mai recoiled. "Listen, if we all go in there at once and Slypher kills us, then there'll be no one left to fight him! We'll be giving him what he wants: all his enemies in one place. Even if the three of us go down, then at least you'll still be around to resist him later!"

"No," said Téa forcefully. This greatly startled everyone, for she hadn't spoken a word since they had left the ruined town of stone. Her eyes lingered on the ground. "If we divide up our forces, we'll never be strong enough to fight him. Together is our only chance." She then looked up with fierce emotion shining in her sapphire eyes. "And I'm not going to sit back while you risk your lives to free Yugi! He's my friend too, and it's as much my duty to help him as it is yours."

Joey looked at her sympathetically. "Téa… You won't like what you see."

"I don't care!" she cried. "I have to see him. I can't bear knowing how he is, and not trying to set him free!" Her shining expression and tone of voice told Joey that nothing he said could sway her.

"Me too," said Mai. "After all, you boys would be creamed in an instant without me."

"And us," added Fizdis, motioning between Shimon and herself. "We're all coming."

Joey stared around at all of them, his eyes softer. "Then I guess we're all in for one hell of a fight, huh?" He turned back around to face the stormy hilltop, and a slight smile graced his lips. "I'm sure Yug' would've wanted it this way, anyway."

Red-Eyes growled and lowered his neck so Joey could climb on. Once aboard he thrust his fist forward. "Let's go kick some Slypher butt!"

* * *

They stood before the entrance to the weathered old castle as though standing on the brink of life and death. In effect, they were, for they knew that once inside they may never come out again. They stood with determination in their eyes and hearts, but inside were feelings of guilt and dread of events to come. Everyone knew that they were going to have to fight Slypher in order to get rid of him. Fighting Slypher meant fighting Yugi as well, or at least his body. None of them wanted to think about having to attack their own friend, even if it was the only way to save him.

"Everyone be careful," said Joey. "He may already know we're here. He's not going to give us any warning if he decides to leap out and kill us." A lump tightened in Joey's throat. Suddenly he was actually afraid to walk through that door. He remembered all too well watching Slypher take over and turn his best friend into a monster. Now, after witnessing the result for himself, the thought of seeing Yugi as a demon again made his heart hurt. He didn't want to imagine Yugi being the one doing those terrible things, but if he saw those unholy eyes again… there'd be no way for him not to accept the truth.

They stepped through the gateway and into the darkness.

Immediately shivers ran up their spines, and not just because of the sudden icy temperature. The electricity in the air seeped into their skin and settled in their blood, where it smoldered with the lingering essence of great power. It was nearly pitch black in the grand hall, the shadows threatening to swallow them whole.

"Yugi!" Téa called to the open air. "Yugi, can you hear us?"

Something slithered above them in the darkness of the vaulted ceiling. They looked up, but as soon as they did the movement was gone. "Yugi?" Téa tried again, this time her voice thinner against the air. "Where are you?"

"'_Yugi…?' So many times that name has been said. Could it be the mortal name of this body?_" Hissing laughter came from the darkness all around them, stealing their breath away.

"Oh man…" murmured Tristan.

Again came words like thunder: "_You have disturbed this body's need for sleep, and thus disturbed me. I do not savor mortal interruptions._" The voice was smooth, just like Yugi's, but filled with a guttural rush of air that made it clear the speaker was of dragon origin.

Téa ran forward several paces. "Yugi, please! Where are you?"

Slypher hissed again, though not in a laugh. "_You continue to call for him though you know of my presence. Are you so attached to him that you would face me here?_" Slowly the darkness bent and a vague silhouette became visible. Téa saw this and moved to step closer, but suddenly stopped cold. She could see Slypher's eyes, glowing in the darkness.

Vibrant, intense, empty yellow. Sharpened knives of darker gold slanting from the edges of his irises to the center. Slits for pupils, honed to a needle's thickness. They pierced the soul and paralyzed the body, and yet Téa could still almost see Yugi in them. The overall shape of the eyes was still his, that gradual angled gaze that so swiftly could turn from soft to stern.

She took a slow, forced breath. "Yugi…"

The shadows curled away and Slypher appeared, his arms crossed smugly. "_I let you mortals go free, and yet you choose to die – truly a result of your retched mortal 'affection.'_"

Téa couldn't believe her eyes. To do so would reinforce the heavy pain now clenching her heart. She saw Yugi standing there, and she knew it was Yugi's body, but had she not known these things she would not have believed him to be the same person. Joey, Tristan, and Ryou had explained to her what Slypher had done to Yugi, and even then she couldn't truly picture what they said. Now she had visual proof of all they had told her. Of course those where the obvious changes: those dragonic additions made on Slypher's whim. Though, they had failed to mention the wings resting easily behind him in half-furls.

The way Slypher now stood mirrored Yugi's usual stance only in its radiating confidence. With the god's presence there was a feeling of litheness about his arms and legs, even while standing still, like he was ready to strike at any moment. His frame was shifted slightly forward to accommodate the extra weight of his tail but arched back at the shoulders to support his wings. (1) Téa continued to stare at him agape, her eyes stabbing her heart again and again with what she saw. He truly did look like a demon. Behind her, the others were just as shocked, especially those that had never seen him in his possessed state before.

Slypher took amusement in their paralysis. "_So eager to confront me, and yet rendered immobile in my presence?_" Each word he spoke revealed the slender points of his fangs.

"SLYPHER!" Joey roared, finally able to work his voice again. "Get out of Yugi's body _now!_"

Slypher's tail swished through the semi-darkness. "_Relinquish such an asset?_" He laughed again. It was just as terrifying to watch him laugh as it was to hear it. "_I have spent countless hours working to improve it._"

"You're just trying to turn Yugi into a monster!"

"_Nay, mortal. I'm afraid my goals are far less trivial_." He clicked his tongue lightly. "_All the souls I have taken are quite an expense to waste on such a pointless objective. I used the energy from those I killed to make these additions when I instead could have strengthened my own power. Even so, I cannot fly just yet._" He scanned those before him with hunger in his eyes. "_Though you mortals may be enough to remedy that_." (2)

"You're a murderer!" Tristan hollered back. "You're killing all these people, and turning Yugi into a demon along with you!"

"_I am not a demon, I am a god,_" Slypher snarled, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "_What becomes of this body matters not, for it is mine now._"

Joey clenched his fists angrily. "No it isn't! You stole it from him, and now we're here to take it back!" Both he and Tristan took half steps forward into fighting stances.

Slypher sneered. "_You handful of mortals, with no power other than your own physical force, aim to fight me?_"

"You misunderstand us, Slypher," Téa said rigidly with a tone as cold as the air around them. "We _all_ want him back." Suddenly there were three spurts of light, like bursts of sunlight in the darkness, and Téa's monsters appeared beside her. They were a Dancing Fairy, Dark Witch, and Gyakuten no Megami, all three fairy monsters, but all three instilled with the power of light. Among them, too, appeared Seiyaryu, its blazing eyes as bright in the darkness as Slypher's. It growled spitefully at the one whom would dare befoul his master so.

"_Duel monsters!_" Slypher exclaimed in surprise.

Téa's monsters were not the only ones to join the fight. Soon all the resistance monsters began letting themselves out. The multicolored light from their jewels lit the room as brightly as if it were day. Slypher recoiled from the sudden light, hissing, and when the darkness returned he faced every monster in the resistance arsenal.

"If you want to keep Yugi," she went on, "you'll have to fight all of us."

She had inwardly hoped that such a display of their forces would daunt Slypher in some way, yet upon being confronted he merely hissed with laughter again. "_Are you under the impression that numbers are an asset to you?_" He uncrossed his arms and let them fall to his sides. "_Iwis, it has not helped my prey._"

Joey glared at him. "We're different from the people you've killed. We're fighting back."

"_To fight me is to die_."

"We'll see about that!" declared Mai. Without warning her Curse of Dragon screeched and released a jet of flames at Slypher. Dark orange and gold flames burned their eyes in the darkness.

"Mai, wait!" exclaimed Joey, but she cut him off:

"We can't be afraid to attack him! He won't hesitate against us!"

Slypher did not hesitate. The flames rushed for him, rapidly bridging the gap between him and the resistance, but even faced with an assault he flashed his fangs. Sparks of red electricity crackled around him; his tail came around to the front and released a horizontal bolt to counter the attack. Both blasts collided, but Slypher's lightning completely overpowered Curse of Dragon's fire. The bolt cut through the jet of flames as though nothing was even there. It struck Curse of Dragon hard in the torso, knocking it all the way back into the wall, where it promptly disappeared in a flash of light. All this happened in a matter of seconds.

Small tendrils of electricity continued to snap at the air around Slypher. "_Perhaps I will enjoy killing prey that fights back_…" he mused with a murderous look in his eyes. His pupils narrowed to the thinnest of slits, giving him a feral air prime for the killing he was about to partake in.

Fizdis gulped. "Th-that lightning…"

"We must avoid it at all costs," said Ryou, his nervousness evident in his swirling eyes. "If that hits us, we won't be around to fight him any longer." He glanced uneasily at Joey. "Do you have any plan at all for how we should fight him?"

"Me? Not a one."

Ryou groaned. "I was afraid you were going to say that…"

"_If you will not make the first move_," Slypher snarled over them, "_then I shall!_" The sparks dancing around him grew and consolidated around his outstretched arm.

"It's now or never!" yelled Joey. "Charge!" The resistance monsters surged forth in a unanimous wave toward Slypher, yet the monsters were not the only ones to fight: at the head of the wave Tristan and Joey ran side by side. Slypher screeched and let loose the lightning bolt he had been charging. With a powerful crack it sliced through the air, soaring just above the boys' heads, to strike Tristan's Machine King. The giant monster was gone in an instant, but in that instant Joey and Tristan reached Slypher.

"Hope you're ready for some pain, Slypher!" Joey cried. In unison they leapt and drew their arms back for their trademark double hook.

Like water parting beneath the wind Slypher slipped out of the way just before being hit. While Joey and Tristan were still airborne he spun and lashed his tail against their backs. They slammed face-first into the ground and skidded a few feet beyond. Slypher laughed before leaping up to dive into the wave of monsters.

Groaning, Tristan peeled his face off the stone floor. "He's fast!" Joey nodded in agreement.

Once among the ranks of monsters Slypher submerged into a fury of destruction. The first thing he got his claws on was the poor, defenseless Dark Rabbit. His eyes filled with dragonic wrath, he slashed at the creature mercilessly until nothing was left but scraps of dark fur on the stone floor. Immediately then he pivoted, targeted the creaking Zombie Warrior, and struck out with his tail. The blow was enough to shatter the skeletal warrior and send bones flying across the floor.

"He fights from both ends!" exclaimed Fizdis as she watched him tear through Megazowler's thick hide before the slow-moving dinosaur could even blink.

Mai looked up and saw her Harpie Lady circling the fight near the ceiling. "Maybe he won't expect an aerial attack! Scratch Crusher!" Her Harpie Lady targeted Slypher and swooped downward in a flurry of feathers. Below Slypher had just jumped out of the way of a fire attack from Blackland Fire Dragon. He straightened to leap back into the battle when something heavy slammed into the back of his head. Sharp hooks raked across his skull. He lurched forward with a pained screech; blood seeped from gashes beneath his hair and trickled down the back of his neck. Harpie Lady had pulled up early from the dive so the cuts from her talons would not be deep, but still she had succeeded in landing a hit on Slypher.

Slypher's eyes snapped up ruthlessly. He called more electricity to his hand and prepared to incinerate Harpie Lady when something else struck him, this time between his wings. His breath shot out of him and he doubled over. Bickuribox cackled as it peeked out from beneath the lid of its box-turned-cannonball. In wake of his success Kaiser Dragon moved forward and wrapped its long body around Slypher while he was still winded. At this Slypher's eyes shot open. His whole frame filled with electricity, which he released in a spherical burst. Kaiser Dragon was thrown off and went careening into one of the stone pillars. Seconds later it vanished in yellow light.

Shimon watched as his last monster, Beaver Warrior, scurried around frantically to avoid the bolts being thrown at him. In the end he was hit directly and destroyed. "If only there were some way to stop his lightning!"

"Stop his lightning…" murmured Téa. Suddenly an idea came to her. She spied her Dark Witch a few yards away, and then saw Joey scrambling to get back in the fight. "Joey!" He looked up at her, surprised. "Follow my lead!

"Okay, Dark Witch! Midgard Bolt!" Dark Witch thrust her wings down and pointed her spear directly at Slypher. Bright blue lightning stretched over the battlefield in an arc, and while Slypher was preoccupied with dodging Gazelle's claws he failed to see the attack coming.

"_SHREEALH!_" Slypher's screech seized the air and ripped it into tiny pieces. Electricity poured from Dark Witch's staff onto him, enveloping him in its cerulean light. The blast tore through him with enough strength to knock him to his knees. Before any of the remaining dragons could move in to use their fire the lightning crackling around him blazed blood red. He stood again on bandy legs as though unfazed by the attack and loosed a bolt from his hand. It collided with Dark Witch's attack and pushed it back through the darkness. She responded by focusing all her energy on her spear. Blue and crimson struggled back and forth against each other in a show of strength that all the other monsters had frozen to watch. Slypher's lightning steadily pushed back Dark Witch's, until it almost touched the tip of her spear.

"_In a contest of lightning, I surpass all_," growled Slypher.

"That's what you think," said Téa with a shrewd grin. "Now Joey!"

"Awright Giltia, use Soul Spear!" Before Slypher could react another blast struck him on his right wing. He cried out again and his electricity wavered, allowing Dark Witch's blue counterpart to zoom forward. Hissing angrily, Slypher increased his output of lightning to drive back Dark Witch and, using another bolt from his tail, pushed against the stream of concentrated energy Joey's Giltia was thrusting upon him. Both enemy attacks did little to stop Slypher's as his lightning finally surged forth in an overpowering wave and obliterated them.

Slypher let the sparks around him fade and stood panting in the center of the ring of monsters. "_You mortals are fools to challenge my lightning._"

"Wrong, Slypher," declared Téa, and Slypher did a double take at being so bluntly contradicted. "We weren't challenging your lightning – we were getting rid of it."

"_What?_" Slypher tried to call a bolt to silence her but found that only a few tiny sparks came to his palm. "_Impossible!_"

"Using electricity to drive off those attacks drained you of your lightning. You're a dead battery, Slypher."

The realization that he had been outsmarted by a handful of mortals struck Slypher hard in the chest. He stood frozen as Tristan came forward, cracking his knuckles. "Now that you can't fry us, we can fight our way."

Yellow eyes swiveled to Tristan's and narrowed with rage. "_Do not think that you have won just yet, mortals_," he hissed, his tail lashing the air again. "_Just because I am without lightning does not mean I am without strength_."

"Yeah, right! Yugi's a weakling compared to the two of us, right Joey?"

"Right." Joey stared bitingly at Slypher. He clenched his fists: "Let's see you fight this!" He dashed forward and drew his right arm up behind his head. "RAAH!" Joey roared as he closed in on his target.

_Smack._

Without flinching, blinking, or moving hardly at all Slypher raised his hand and caught Joey's fist squarely against his palm. It was like punching a brick wall: Slypher did not budge at all beneath his force. Joey gasped; in his astonishment Slypher sank his claws into Joey's hand.

"_Do not deem me limited by this mortal body_," his chilling voice whispered as Joey cried out from the pain. "_I assure you that this body's original traits have been replaced_."

Joey struggled against Slypher's hold. "Shut up!"

"_Why? Because it pains you to know the one you came to rescue will never return to you?_"

"I said shut up!" Joey suddenly jerked and tried to punch Slypher with his left arm, but Slypher brought up his tail to block it. Joey's hand struck the flat of the blade with a loud _thunk_. He yelled again, and before he could withdraw his arm Slypher wrapped his tail around it and yanked him close. Now their faces were inches apart, and Joey once again stared fearfully into blazing, mirror-like, inhuman eyes.

"Yugi…" he murmured.

"_Plea all you wish, mortal, for your cries will not be heard_," Slypher said fiercely. His right arm was still free, and he raised it so Joey could see his gleaming claws. "_All you will accomplish is to further incite my rage_." He then shoved Joey back, still keeping him bound by his tail, and raked his claws across his face. Diamond daggers tore jagged lacerations across his cheek. Slypher laughed as he watched Joey scream.

"Nobody makes Joey bleed but me, snake!" Without warning a pair of arms grabbed Slypher from behind, pulling him away from Joey. Slypher screech-hissed and started thrashing against his bindings, but Tristan had successfully pinned his arms and wings in a tight hug. Despite his attempts he could not break free of Tristan's hold.

"Heh heh, hey Slypher, next time don't possess someone so small!" Tristan said with a smirk. He then called to Joey: "Hey Joey! Come grab his tail before he slices me!"

Joey didn't have a chance to, for just then Slypher hissed viciously and bit down on Tristan's arm. Inch-long fangs penetrated his jacket and sank deeply into his flesh. Tristan yelled and released his captive, stumbling backward until his back hit one of the stone columns. Blood dripped from the ends of his fangs as Slypher turned with intense anger burning in his eyes.

Mai was nearby and ran over to Tristan as he clutched at his arm. "Tristan!"

"_You are in my way, girl_." She whirled around and saw Slypher bearing down on her. Shadows covered his face except for his glowing yellow eyes and glimmering fangs in his snarl. In a blur too fast to be followed by human eyes he whacked the flat of his tail blade against her skull. She faltered, her eyes dilating rapidly, then swayed dangerously like the last fragile leaf of an autumn tree.

"Mai, NO!" hollered Joey. Her blonde hair streamed behind her as she collapsed to the floor, unconscious. Slypher chuckled and stepped casually over her.

Tristan drew his breath in hisses as he stared Slypher down. "You have some nerve, attacking a girl like that."

Slypher scoffed, "_If she defies me, then such is her fate_."

"You're sick."

"_Maybe, mortal_," he said as he licked the blood from his fangs, "_but you can do nothing to change that fact_."

As they spoke Slypher was slowly closing the gap between them. Each step was so smooth over the uneven stone that he seemed more to be a cobra slithering towards a cornered mouse. Tristan found he could no longer stand the arrogant look on Slypher's face and tried land a punch on him, yet when he raised his arm to strike it felt strangely weighted. Now that he looked more closely, he realized that his vision had been steadily blurring, and that now Slypher was more a smear of crimson and shadow than a definite being. He tried to move out of the way but his legs shook terribly and wouldn't budge.

Slypher noticed his distress and chuckled. "_Feeling dizzy, are we mortal?_"

Tristan groaned and tightened his grip on his arm. His head had started buzzing with a noise not unlike the drone of old electrical equipment. A wave of heat washed over him, making him feel sick to his stomach. "What did you… do?" he slurred.

More of the hissing laughter slipped into his ears. "_So eager to learn of your fate? I have modified my fangs to produce venom. By biting you I have subjected you to its effects_."

By now Tristan could barely keep his eyes open. A heavy fatigue weighed down on him and screamed for every bone in his body to lie down and rest. He felt so exhausted… He slid down the column to his knees. Slypher stood over him, smirking. "_A pity that bite won't kill you. I have not killed enough souls to make my poison fatal. Although, iwis it is potent enough to render you unconscious_…" At that point Tristan slumped to the floor and was out like a light.

Slypher studied the motionless form before him with interest. "_I could kill you now… but I have other souls to deal with first_." He turned to scour the area, and the first thing his eyes fell upon was Téa. He snarled at the sight of her. "_Such as the one who robbed me of my lightning_."

Téa felt his obsessive gaze and was suddenly chilled by fear. Even though a fair distance separated them she felt as though Slypher were right next to her, the cold scales of his hands gripping her shoulders as he brushed his fangs against her neck. In his slithering gait he started toward her. Dancing Fairy tried to slow him down by creating a thick smokescreen in front of him. For a moment it seemed to work, as Slypher stopped and hissed angrily at the obstruction: then a moment later his tail cut through the billowing folds of black smoke and he was free to seek his prey again.

Fizdis jumped into his path alongside King Rex and Uraby. "S-Slypher!" she stammered, though she tried to sound brave. "We won't let you hurt anyone else!"

"_Naïve girl, move or suffer my wrath_."

"No!" she cried valiantly. "We'll stop you right here! Go Uraby!" Uraby roared and sprang forward, his giant jaws open wide and ready to tear into flesh.

Slypher's tail shot forward through Uraby's throat. The tiger-striped dinosaur bellowed with pain; halfway through the sound turned harsh as the rough gurgle of blood replaced it, and Uraby fell limp on the end of Slypher's tail. Slypher then threw him off to the side where Shimon was standing trying to avoid the fight. A ton of dinosaur hit him in the chest, slammed him into the wall beyond, and knocked him out before Uraby vanished in amber light.

"Shimon!" cried Fizdis, but he lay motionless.

"_You are the next to feel his fate if you will not stand aside_." Slypher's tail arched threateningly. "_I do not intend to waste my energies on killing you. My target is the mortal whom you so defend. Stay where you are and you will further provoke my anger_."

Fizdis was terrified of his icy stare and acrimonious voice. She could feel in every part of his being that he intended to act well upon his words. This she knew, and yet as she stared fearfully into his burning eyes she also knew that she could not move. If she backed down from Slypher now she would be backing down from saving Téa, saving the villagers Slypher would go on to kill… and, she would be backing down from saving Yugi.

"I cannot do that, Slypher. Here is where I stand."

"_Then here is where you die_." Like the sleek head of a cobra the edge of his tail blade glinted in the weak light. Fizdis clamped her eyes shut and prayed that everything would at least be over quickly… Slypher's tail struck out and before it had a chance to hit her King Rex barred the way. Fizdis heard twin roars and cracked her eyes open, only to see her loyal monster fall. A great bloody gash split the area between its two necks.

She stared numbly at the motionless monster and didn't notice that Slypher had moved directly in front of her. His tail coiled around her, binding her arms, and tightened with crushing force. She cried out and tried to struggle free, but she could not muster enough strength to counter his. Indeed, her squirming only allowed him to tighten his grip further. She was rapidly losing air to his force; the edges of her cheeks flushed with a suffocating blue…

"Let her go, Slypher!" A loud squawk sounded from across the battlefield, followed by a stream of flames that blasted his tail. Slypher screeched and let Fizdis fall to the ground where she laid motionless. He backed away with his tail curled in front of him. Where Parrot Dragon had struck the scales were shiny and raw. He held the burnt part between his hands, his face still contorted with pain.

"Aw-yeah! Nice shot, Ryou!" Joey punched his fist to the air. "That one had to hurt him!"

Then Slypher's eyes snapped open again, and they empowered the darkness just as they had prior. He looked angrier now than he had at any time previously, a feat difficult to accomplish: the knives of gold in his eyes turned their edges and slashed along with his gaze. "_Victory fleeting does not grant defeat eternal, mortal_."

Now there was nothing blocking his path to Téa. He was ten feet away from her, easily within pouncing distance should he choose to strike. Eyes as intense with heat as the midday sun locked with those grayed like the winter sky. Staring into his eyes was almost hypnotic; even as they bore into her they flickered with dancing light and hate. She wanted to believe that one of those flickers was Yugi resisting Slypher's control, but she had no way of knowing if he could even see what was going on around him.

Slypher spoke to her in his shadow-curling voice: "_I presume you are beside yourself, mortal. You are filled with pride for besting me and taking my lightning. No doubt you feel the courage of a fool in thinking that you may yet accomplish what you came here to do. Before I kill you and add to my power, I will ask this: are you afraid of me?_"

She looked right at him, steadied her quivering heart, and answered. "I am afraid, Slypher. I'm afraid that you will kill me. I'm afraid that I won't be able to save Yugi. I'm afraid he might never be able to be free of your control. I'm afraid of all the terrible things you might be doing to him even as we speak… but I am _not_, and have never, been afraid of _you_."

His eyes narrowed at the end of her speech. "_Wise words for a mortal. A rarity among your kind_." He gave a small laugh. "_Though you seem to think this all my fault_."

"Of course it's your fault!" she countered. "You tricked Yugi into summoning you so that you could possess him!"

"_Is that what you believe?_" This time Slypher laughed even louder, a laugh of rumbling wickedness. "_Your companions must have fed you that lie to shelter you from the truth_."

"Shut up, Slypher!" hollered Joey. "There's no one to blame for your evil but you!"

Slypher shot him a murderous look. "_You are the one to keep quiet_." His tail shot forward and stopped inches from Téa's neck. "_Interfere and you will hear from her no longer_."

Téa gulped. The blade that had already taken so many lives was now barely away from doing the same to her. She tried not to look at it as she continued to speak. "They didn't have to tell me anything, Slypher. I can figure things out for myself. Yugi's my friend, and I know him better than anyone. That's the only reason for Yugi summoning you. He wouldn't do it otherwise."

"_Really?_" He faced her again with amusement evident in his smirk. "_Such is truly your belief?_" The tone of his voice suddenly darkened. "_You are a rare soul even for the mortal plane. In honor of your strong heart I will grace you with the truth_.

"_You remember, of course, that fateful encounter with your so-called enemy in the fields of Marre-Yaa Denn?_"

"That was Scott," she murmured. She did remember, or at least she remembered suddenly finding herself sitting awkwardly in the center of her friends with them telling her she had died. "I was killed then, and then brought back to life. What does that have to do with anything?"

"_That's right. You died, and at the time you were going to stay dead_." Slypher habitually ran his tongue over his fangs. "_From that point on I could sense every emotion running through this body. Shock. Devastation. Utter heartbreak. Those were some of the strongest ones, I believe_.

"_Soon they were replaced by a much more enticing emotion. 'Anger' is not strong enough a word to describe it. No, I would place it as something between absolute loathing and a crazed wrath_," Slypher mused, letting his eyes close to savor the memory.

Téa, however, shook her head slowly. "No. Yugi'd never…"

"_Oh, but he did_." Yellow eyes reopened with intensified delight. "_His rage gave me strength, the strength I needed to be summoned. It poured into me with the might of a thousand rivers, providing me with enough power to restore me to my prime_." His lips pulled back to reveal his gleaming fangs. "_And because he was not aware he was calling me, I was able to coil around his soul and ensnare him_."

"But you haven't said _why_," she said half-pleadingly, desperate for something, _anything_ to take the cause of blame away from Yugi. "Yugi would never do what you say he's done, and even if he did there'd be a reason!"

Slypher screeched angrily and pressed the edge of his tail-blade against her throat. She shuddered visibly at the sound, a new look of terror tearing away at her eyes. "_Humans, primitive mortals!_" he screeched. His words folded into the dragonic sound so the two could not be told apart, and he sounded less like a human with a dragon's mind behind it and more like a dragon that held a human voice between its teeth. "_Always naïve, always so eager to cling to your ideal little truths! What forces drive you mortals? What makes you do what you do? What weak emotion in your pitiful hearts commands your actions, dictates your every thought?_"

He jerked his head forward to that his eyes were directly in front of hers. "_What makes one soul willing to give up everything, relinquish everything he has for the sake of a_ single, _other soul?_"

She swallowed. "Y-Yugi…" _It can't be… Could he mean…?_

"_He was ready to have me destroy everything within radius, just to avenge… his love_."

What remained of Téa's strength gave out then.

Her legs would no longer support her and she sank to the ground. She didn't collapse, no – it was a slow, steady movement that matched her sinking heart. Already scarred by Slypher's slashing gaze, what remained of her once-bright irises became thin sheets of dull color darker than the shadows of the room. Tears leaked from them, and though emotion was obvious in each dewdrop tear the rest of her face was a cold void. She lost focus of the world around her. She was too busy being lost within herself. Everything that had happened up to now… all the evil plaguing Yugi, all the sins done by his hands, and the many more planned after… how could that affect her? How could all of those things still hurt her when now she knew the grimmest truth? Yugi had been taken… not by his anger or his hate, but by that one emotion most sacred to human hearts.

He had felt it for her.

As she stayed unmoving on the floor Slypher bent over her. His warm breath struck her ear and carried his words deep into her heart. "_You boast of your bond as the courage to save him. How can you believe in that bond when you now know it is the cause of his enslavement? Had you not been so close to him… you may not be where you now stand._"

More tears spilled along with hiccuping sobs. Slypher had ripped open her body, taken out her heart, and nailed it forcefully to the ground for all to see. He was right. Everything… Everything was her fault… If she had never died… If Yugi had not grown so close to her… _Then maybe_…

Slypher straightened and smirked down at her. "_A rare soul is none the less a weak one_." He raised his tail high above her head. "_You shall die knowing of your sins and never seeing your friend's freedom_."

"OH NO YOU DON'T, SLYPHER!" roared Joey as powerfully as any dragon. "SHINING PLASMA!" In a shimmer of rustling pink feathers and silver embers, Seiyaryu dove from the air above and released a fireball at Slypher. With speed unmatched by even Slypher's reflexes, the mass of flames crashed into his shoulder. The spite behind the blast was enough to actually knock him off his feet and slam him into the floor beyond. When the smoke cleared he was laying against the stones voicing his pain with rushes of strained growls. Blood, charred bits of fabric, and shining, broken skin mixed together on his exposed shoulder.

Joey froze, thunderstruck. He hadn't meant to do such damage to Yugi, yet before Slypher could get up again he dashed forward, aiming to pin him to the ground. Just as he was about to secure a grip on him Slypher rolled suddenly over, pounced, and caught Joey in the pin he had been attempting. Crimson-scaled hands closed around his throat while his tail constricted his arms. On either side of him his wings hung limply from his shoulders. Even though the look on his face was one of victory the god was panting heavily. It seemed the wear of battle had finally affected him. Where he had once been smooth of voice and demeanor he now looked disheveled at the edges. Going for so long without his lightning had contributed greatly to the problem, for without it he remained unable to heal himself. His fangs stuck out into the air as he gasped in new breaths to replace the old.

"_An admirable attempt, your attack_," he huffed through his breaths. "_You risked your companion's health to weaken me… and yet you failed. Do not worry. I can heal these wounds when my lightning returns to me. For that, you won't have to struggle with your guilt once you are dead_.

"_Now, mortal_," Slypher stabbed the words into his heart, "_it is high time I destroy you_." His grip on the blonde's throat tightened, diamond claws eagerly trying to pierce his flesh.

Joey smirked. "Says you, you giant snake." Quickly and without warning Joey brought up his knee and slammed it into Slypher's stomach. Slypher choked and gave a ragged cough that sent forth drops of blood to splatter on Joey's face. The blonde used his chance to pull Slypher's hands from his neck and, feeling daring, flipped him over onto his back. Now it was he that had Slypher pinned. He straddled the demon in his friend's body, holding his clawed hands immobile above his head.

A thin trail of blood ran from the corner of Slypher's mouth. Loathing roared in his eyes as they locked with Joey's. "_A rash move, mortal. So, you have trapped me... but you did not do a very good job of it_." He flashed his fangs wickedly as his tail reared up behind Joey, the blade pointing down at his back. "_Die!_" he screeched, tail shooting forward.

"Joey, look out!" cried Ryou.

Joey didn't flinch. "Red-Eyes!" he called. His trusted dragon appeared behind him, ruby eyes sparkling with power. The dragon roared and brought his ebony foot down upon Slypher's tail, squishing it beneath his claws. Slypher screeched in agony. The serpentine appendage writhed in a futile attempt to free itself but failed against Red-Eyes's weight.

"Okay Red-Eyes, help me hold him still!" Red-Eyes bent and grasped Slypher's ankles to hold his legs in place. Once they were secure Joey shifted so he was no longer sitting on him, and, keeping his wrists securely pinned, moved so he sat above his head. Growling and hissing, Slypher struggled against his bindings roughly, but he could not muster the strength needed to break free. He fell back to the floor in defeat. Though his panting revealed his weariness, his eyes burned with their full strength.

Ryou moved over to Téa where she was still sitting frozen on the ground. "Téa?" he asked gently. "Téa, are you all right?"

Her eyes swiveled listlessly to where Joey and Red-Eyes held Slypher. Seeing him struggle and cry out with bestial sounds of anger took her away from her own pain, and with that recovery something else clicked: they now had Slypher captive. Hope sparked again in her eyes, and its light dried her tears.

"Ryou… Yes, I'm all right."

"Let me help you." With effortless grace he pulled her to her feet and led her to where the cause of her heart's tumult lay. By the time they had crossed that distance, flames of anger ravaged her expression and stung Slypher with their spite.

"All right Slypher!" hollered Joey authoritatively. "We've got you trapped. You can't get free from us, and you used up all your lightning. Now give up Yug's body!"

Slypher tensed and hissed angrily up at him. "_Surrender this body? I'm quite comfortable in here_."

Joey growled and pressed his arms down harder. "Get outta' there or we'll force you out!"

"_And just how will you manage that, mortal?_" he sneered. "_The only thing you can do to break my grip on this body is kill it_." He smirked when Joey paled. "_I know you don't want any harm to befall your friend. You didn't even kick me as hard as you normally would have, for fear of hurting him_."

"Grrr... I'll tear your slimy claws off Yugi's heart if it kills me too!" Joey looked around wildly for something, anything nearby that could help the situation. His eyes caught on the burning red orb that rested on Slypher's chest. "That! If that's the thing that summoned you, I'll smash that thing to pieces!" He expected that having found Slypher's weakness would have evoked an expression of fear from the god. Surprise befell him when Slypher began to laugh.

"_Do as you will with my Orb_," he hissed through cold chuckles. "_You will merely be destroying the key: the only key to release me... and the only key to lock me away again. Destroy that, and I shall be free to terrorize the mortal plane as I see fit. Go ahead and lay waste to it, mortal; I should rather like to be forever free of my only shackle_."

Joey's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "If that were true, you would have already destroyed it."

"_Perceptive: its magic prevents me from laying a finger on it. Only a mortal hand may act upon it. Go ahead and shatter it; shatter the grip of my magic and the soul of your friend along with it_."

"What do you mean by that?"

"_The Orb contains not only the sealing spell, but the summoning spell as well_. _The magic of the summoning spell keeps me here in this plane. Your friend's soul is the fuel for that magic. If the Orb's magic is no longer needed to shield me from the sealing spell, then his soul is no longer needed to provide it power. Both would shatter_."

Téa glared at him. "Why are you telling us this?"

Slypher glanced at her, and though this time their eyes did lock, his hate-filled gaze could not overpower that of the one before him. "_I enjoy witnessing your suffering as you realize you are without hope_."

Joey swore. "Damn it!"

"Wait, Joey." The blonde looked up to see Ryou's deep eyes narrowed in thought. "Something isn't right here."

"It's not?" asked Joey and Téa together.

"No. Think about what Slypher just told us. If we break this orb, Yugi gets destroyed, but he goes off spot free."

"So what's your point?" demanded Joey, a little angrier than he intended.

"Here's my point: why would Slypher care? If nothing happens to him, why didn't he just let you break the orb? Why did he tell you what would happen if it would prevent you from breaking it?" He shook his head. "There must be more to it than that."

As Ryou had progressed in his explanation, Slypher's growls had continually grown louder. "_Ignorant boy, you know of nothing_."

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Ryou studied Slypher's fierce yellow eyes. Though his body had suffered physical damage he still radiated an intense magical energy behind the mirrors of his eyes. "There's something else that happens when the orb is broken that you aren't telling us. You don't want whatever it is to happen, so you revealed to us enough information to stop us from breaking the orb. You need it in one piece."

A rough hiss from his throat: "_What does it matter? In either event you are unable to free your friend_."

"But now we have _you_." Joey jerked on his arms roughly. Slypher screeched again as fresh blood seeped from the wound on his shoulder. "Now we're close enough to reach Yugi."

Slypher's gaze swept to him and bored into him like twin blades of molten steel. "_You cannot revive him from my control_."

"We haven't tried yet." Téa knelt beside his head. She looked straight into his eyes. "Yugi? Come on Yugi, it's me… It's Téa. We're all out here… We want you to come back."

As she spoke Ryou peered into his eyes as well. He watched the aura of magic, searching for any falters in its unbroken surface. He saw none. "Téa, he's not responding…"

Slypher smirked, showing his fangs. "_Your friend sees magic: he sees the truth_."

"No!" cried Joey. "I won't believe that! Téa, keep trying!"

"Yugi, please," Téa begged again. "Please fight back..."

Slypher's eyes snapped with the ferocity of a blizzard. "_Idiot girl; you continue to plea even when all hope is lost! My grip on him cannot be shattered!_"

"Yes it can! Yug'!" Joey hollered. "Come on! I know you're in there somewhere–"

"_SHRAALH!_" Slypher screeched with fury, jerking everyone from his or her position. "_Imbeciles; primitive mortals! Your continual hope when there is none to be had is the weakness of your kind!_" His anger smoothed into a tantalizing smugness. "_My hold is eternal, unbreakable! Your incessant hoping is sooner shattered._'

A hissed whisper past salient fangs: '_For all your cries, he cannot hear you. For all your tears, he cannot see them, nor feel them fall against his flesh. He is wound so deeply in my coils, so far gone under my entrancement_..." Slypher licked his fangs airily, "... _that he is not even _aware_ that he is possessed_." Téa gasped, more tears filling her eyes, while Slypher's laughing echoed throughout the stone hall.

"Damn you!" Joey slammed more of his body weight onto Slypher's forearms. "You damn Demon!"

Mirror eyes reflected his anger. "_Pray tell, mortal, what do you aim to do to change that fact?_"

"I'll tell you what I aim to do! I aim to _make_ him aware so that he can kick your sorry tail out of there!"

"_How will you manage such a feat when he has no connection to the physical world?_" Slypher countered. "_And you, mortals, you cannot access the spiritual plane! Turn your eyes to the truth: that he is perpetually mine and all your 'hope' is without avail_."

Joey growled and swore angrily. Ryou laid a hand on his shoulder. "Getting worked up won't help Yugi get free."

"I know that!" he snapped, causing Ryou to jerk his hand away. Joey looked sadly down at what used to be his friend. "But I just don't know what else we can do…"

Téa too turned forlorn eyes to her friend. Once again despair threatened to lay claim to her heart. Then she saw something on his chest, barely noticeable at all, hidden in the shadows given off by the flaming orb.

It was a dark purple stone.

She gasped. Memories of Tristan and the Maryah-Denn fields came rushing back to her:

"_Scott explained it to us. He said these gems were the_ '_physical manifestation of our soul_.'"

Both boys heard her gasp and turned to look at her. "Téa, what is it?"

She stared in disbelief at the little stone. So small, so insignificant… she prayed the idea rapidly forming from her swirling thoughts would work. "Guys," she said, "I have an idea."

"You do?" Joey would have leapt upon her in a hug if he weren't restraining Slypher. "What is it?"

Slowly Téa reached her hand forward; it almost trembled with excitement and fear at the same time. Slypher looked up and saw what she was reaching for. He snarled viscously and snapped at her hand in an attempt to stop her, but she was too far away to land a hit. Her pale fingers slipped around the dark amethyst and raised it up for the others to see.

Joey blinked. "His gem?"

"His soul!" Ryou exclaimed. "That gem is a connection to Yugi's soul!"

"What! Are you serious?"

"With this, we may be able to reach him…"

"_It won't work_," growled Slypher suddenly. "_Even with a connection to his soul, you cannot work through my entrancement to his conscience_."

"We don't need to," Ryou said. "If we can touch his subconscious, that may be enough to affect his conscious mind."

"_You will not succeed_."

"Says you!" Joey shot back. He turned to Téa. "Go for it."

She nodded and leaned in close to the stone. "Yugi…"

"_Naïve girl, your efforts are futile_," he sneered. "_You cannot free him_."

"Shut up, Slypher!" Joey jerked on his arms again and sent another stab of pain to Slypher's shoulder.

"Yugi," Téa kept whispering to the gem in hand. "Please, speak to us; give us at least one word to let us know you're not lost..."

Slypher made to hiss at her, yet suddenly choked midway through the sound. One slitted eye squeezed shut while a look of fire filled the other. Through clenched fangs Slypher forced out his voice, strained as though something were holding it back: "_Wretched... mortal... what have you done...?_" He then was seized by a fit of ragged coughs that forced all the breath from him, and when he gasped in a new wave of air there came a voice that was distinctly _not_ a hissing one:

"Mahado!"

Violet erupted from the previously dead stone around Joey's neck. It rose in a cyclone into the chilled darkness. The whirl of color split down the middle and fell away, leaving the stern-eyed sorcerer floating in its stead.

"The Dark Magician!" Joey and Téa blurted simultaneously.

Slypher had now recovered from his lapse and hissed wrathfully up at the new arrival. "_You!_"

'_Demon! You dare return after being sent away! I will not stand your presence tainting my Soulmaster any longer!_'

"_You should never have escaped your prison. Did you not enjoy my arrangement?_"

'_Your attempt to seal me in the shadows failed, demon. The magic of my Soulmaster freed me_.' Mahado jabbed his staff at Slypher threateningly. '_I will do everything in my power to release my Soulmaster's heart as he did mine!_'

"_You never were one of loyalty before. Why so eager to spoil your reputation? Or do you think what you say can change reality?_"

"What are you talking about, Slypher?" snapped Joey. "He ain't said nothin'!"

'_This reality should not be, demon!_'

Slypher noticed that none of the others were reacting to the conversation between Mahado and himself. "_Ah, is that it...? This body is so in tune with your energies that it can perceive your mental waves as communication. An interesting little trick_."

'_I do not need words to defeat you. You do not have the strength to resist me_.'

"_That may be so_," Slypher countered, "_but do you have the strength to attack your master?_"

Mahado froze. Quickly he shouted, '_I will destroy what hold you have on his heart!_'

'_You shall not!_' Slypher roared back mentally, causing Mahado to cry out. '_There is no way to break my hold, save killing him!_'

'_That is not so!_' Mahado boomed. Slypher shuddered visibly, though not from the sound in his head. A wave of energy had surged through him, ripping up his spine. Joey, Téa, and Ryou flinched.

"Did you hear that?" asked Joey.

"Yes," she answered, "but who...?"

'_The friends of my Soulmaster, so valiant in their efforts to rescue him, deserve to hear this more than anyone_,' the voice rumbled again. '_I am using my energy to make the thoughts my Soulmaster hears audible to them_.'

"_I am not your voice!_" snarled Slypher as he struggled to remove the force from his mind, but it held stubbornly firm and kept the doors thrown open.

The three onlookers stared up at Mahado in awe. "No way…" murmured Joey. "He talks?"

"It is not so unusual, Joey," said Ryou, though he did look quite as amazed as Joey did. "Their souls are strongly bonded together. Many things can occur when that happens."

Mahado turned to them and bowed. '_Friends of my Soulmaster, thank you for your courage and persistence in combating Slypher. Your strength in pursuing my Soulmaster's freedom is what summoned me here_.'

"Um… You're welcome, I guess," said Joey.

"_Another soul will not be enough to eliminate me_," Slypher spat. "_You will fail just as those already present have failed!_"

'_They have not failed, Slypher, for they have not once given up hope_.' Mahado glared down at him. '_It is you that have failed, demon_.'

"_I have not failed! I am the victor!_" Dagger-fangs flashed with rage. "_It is I whom still commands this body and claims existence in this plane!_'

'_Your existence here is a weak one. My Soulmaster is your only lifeline. He is the one that bought you safe passage here, and it was only by chance that you thought to possess him. Otherwise, you would have returned to your prison soon after being summoned_.

'_You claim that you don't need the Orb. This may be true – it is unnecessary in controlling his body – but you still need it to bind you to him. He is the only one the Orb will work for. He is the only soul capable of housing yours. It takes magic to keep you here. The magic he possesses far surpasses that contained by any other soul on this plane. Those souls with magic would not last long sustaining you. They would die once all their magic was drained. Few other souls, too, have magic: the vast majority have none at all. Any of these souls you tried to inhabit would burn up after you bonded to them. Had you not my Soulmaster, you would be forced to hop from one soul to the next, surviving until each soul in turn gave out. His soul, with its great energies, is the only one you can occupy indefinitely_.

'_His is also the only one that can survive channeling your power. You transformed his body, made it more like yours, knowing that it would aid the transferal of your power from the heavenly plane to this one. We have all seen the devastating effects this has had on both he and this plane. But even my Soulmaster has his limits. Even he cannot survive your full strength. If you were to cause any further change in him, he would reach that limit and die. You know that, and that is why you have gone no further_.'

"_Stop it!_" Slypher struggled against his bindings to no avail. "_No more!_"

'_If we were to shatter that Orb, you would be torn from him... You were summoned here as a spirit. To shatter the Orb now would leave you trapped in spirit form, without the ability to recover your solid body. You would be forced to hop from mortal soul to mortal soul, unable to access any more of your power from the heavenly plane. Eventually there would be no souls of magic left for you to possess, and you would be forced back into heaven_.'

"_No!_"

'_But we_ cannot _break the Orb_,' Mahado stressed when Joey moved to grasp it, '_for the tearing apart of their souls would devastate my Soulmaster's. Slypher is immortal, and would survive. Soulmaster is not. He would be killed_.'

"So then what are we supposed to do?" he asked desperately.

"_There is nothing you can do!_" Slypher hissed. "_Nothing you can do but despair at his loss!_"

'_There is something we can do to help my Soulmaster. The only way to separate them safely is to cause the tear internally_.'

"Internally?" asked Téa.

'_Yes. We can have no effect on their souls from the outside, yet if we disrupt the internal balance, it will weaken Slypher's hold on him_.'

"And then Yug' can fight back!" Joey finished.

"There's one problem," said Ryou. "How do we disrupt the internal balance when there is no way for us to reach their souls? Even through Yugi's soul gem, the effect was little…"

'_His soul and my own are bonded by a link of deep magic_,' Mahado answered. '_I can channel my energies down it and into him, so that he may have the strength to resist control_.'

At this Slypher's eyes widened, and for the first time the knives of gold flashed with fear. "_No! You cannot!_"

'_I am_.' Mahado closed his eyes and brought his hands together. Quick streams of fluid words spilled off his lips as his whole frame lit with violet light. Joey, Téa, and Ryou watched the ordeal intently. As Mahado's words continued to fill the room it turned eerily silent around them. Prickling energy rubbed against their shoulders in quiet apprehension.

Suddenly Slypher gave a jolt. Magic poured into him from Mahado and penetrated deep down to his very center. The rapid rise in energy made his muscles jerk uncontrollably: his whole body started shivering as though a cold wind had swept over him. His breaths came slowly, shakily, and forcibly – like something was restricting his breathing. He stared unseeingly at the ceiling with eyes thrown open wide and clouded by magic.

Ryou leaned forward slightly to look into Slypher's eyes: within them he saw the shimmering field of Slypher's magic, unscarred as before, but behind it a purple glow was rapidly growing in intensity. It shone through the layer above it as though it were glass. Soon the energy grew too large for its glass container and pressed against the walls.

"_Kss!_" Slypher drew a hissed breath. He bared his fangs in defiance of the force straining against him. He fought back, trying to suppress it before it grew too daring. When he forced his power against it, however, it would move and stab at him in a different place. It jabbed again and again, leaving cracks in Slypher's magic. Soon many thin lines snaked their way across the crystal wall of force.

"It's working!" exclaimed Ryou. "Slypher's control is breaking!" The cracks chipped and popped, slowly growing into larger crevices. The wall was splitting, straining along its ever-widening seams and groaning in protest to the opposing force.

"_No!_" Slypher shouted over him before cringing as another blow from Mahado's transferred energy pierced him. He could feel all the boy said, but he was _not_ going to allow it to happen. "_I will control this body! It is mine!_"

Slypher's magic only barely contained the violet force. Thin streams of it were leaking from some of the larger gaps and moving to attack the wall from both sides. "Not for long," said Ryou.

Just then the barrier shattered.

"_SHRAAHEEYAAILH!_" An agonized screech came from Slypher. He jerked roughly and his hands almost slipped free of Joey's grasp. Red-Eyes too had trouble restraining his now violently struggling tail. He twisted and writhed, continually screeching as unseen pain tore through him.

Téa flinched each time he screeched. "What's wrong?"

Mahado brought down his hands. '_I have given my Soulmaster the energy to fight back_.'

"Then what's going on?"

'_The fighting_.'

Now the violet force was free to wage open war against the crystalline energies that had once incarcerated it. Even so, the crystal was not about to let itself be overcome without a fight. Simply breaking its wall had not dispelled its presence, and in its freed form it was still extremely powerful. Both colors raged against each other in great gales of magical force. Each clash sent forth waves of agony to ravage Slypher's body, and each wave caused him to thrash about and loose ear-splitting screeches.

Ryou's breathing became heavier and he would occasionally wince. "Slypher's magic is enormous… Its presence is almost suffocating…"

"Can you see it?" asked Joey.

"Yes… but it's so strong that I can _feel_ it, too. Usually I can only see the presence of magic in a person, but the sheer amount of it coming off of him is strong enough for me to feel... just like how I felt the killing spell on Yugi earlier."

"So who's winning?"

Ryou narrowed his eyes at the scene before him. "Neither of them seems to be able to overpower the other. If one gains, the other seizes it back in the next assault." He shuddered as the two forces created a particularly large explosion of their energies. Slypher howled, jerking so madly in Joey's grasp that Téa moved to help hold him still.

Mahado's face looked grim as he watched his master's struggles. '_Every cell of his body is engaged in fighting back Slypher's presence. Each time their energies collide, the explosion of magic created between them tears through his body_.'

"So fighting back Slypher is hurting Yugi…?" asked Téa.

'_It hurts Slypher when he is in control. It hurts Soulmaster when control is his_.' Another hoarse screech came from Slypher. '_It hurts both of them simultaneously, as neither of them ever has total control at any given moment_.' Mahado's eyes darkened. '_If Soulmaster does not drive out this demon soon… his body may be ripped apart by their magics_.'

"What!" Joey cried. "We have to help him!"

'_There is nothing we can do at this point. All we can do is watch, and see whose will proves stronger_.'

Téa watched Slypher's struggles intently. So far there had been no sign that Yugi had made any headway against him. If he would just open his eyes, maybe she would see something of him there… but because of Slypher's howling pain, he kept them clenched tightly shut. As he jerked around she noticed fresh blood on his neck that had leaked from the gashes Mai's Harpie Lady had left.

Another screech rose from him: "_SHRAALEEYARLH_…"

_Please, Yugi!_ thought Téa desperately.

"…_Ahgh!_"

Her heart stopped. The end of that screech had lost Slypher's dragonic overlay, making it sound more… human. Slypher continued to shriek with pain, but more and more frequently the sound was shifting to the human-like voice. It took several moments of listening intently for her to realize what was happening.

"Oh gods! Yugi!" Another screech wavered back and forth between the two. "He's getting through!"

Now the difference was apparent enough for the others to perceive it as well. "He's beating him!" Joey tightened his grip on Slypher's wrists. "Come on, Yug'! Get that lizard outta' you!"

Ryou kept watching the battle of magics. Though he didn't see any real gain to Yugi's side per say, he did notice something that had occurred without him noticing: Yugi's magic, slowly but steadily, was forcing its way _beneath_ Slypher's. Slypher seemed to have realized this as well and tried desperately to pierce through and keep Yugi surrounded, but each attempt deflected harmlessly off the resilient purple energy.

_K-zz!_

"Ouch!" Téa recoiled and shook out her hand. "He shocked me!" Crimson sparks started dancing their way over his body, snapping at the air around them. Joey kept flinching, as he was holding on to Slypher still and receiving the bites of many of them.

"I thought we got rid of his lightning!" he complained. "How is he able to still use it to shock me?"

But Ryou did not see sparks of lightning: he saw sparks of the crystal energy being dispelled all throughout Yugi's body. "That isn't just Slypher's lightning…" He thought back to the moment when Slypher had disappeared within red sparks and taken complete control of Yugi. "…It's his essence!"

"What?" blurted both Téa and Joey at the same time.

By now Yugi had gotten all the way underneath Slypher's magic and was now straining upward against it. "Yugi's driving out Slypher's essence! He's going to make it!" Ryou cried happily.

The crimson sparks blazed with rage. They arced back and forth over each other, screaming and trying desperately to get back inside Yugi's body. The flame in Slypher's Orb roared with sanguineous light. The sparks started curling to it, as though attracted by a magnet. As more and more electricity came to it the Orb began to float on the end of its chain.

Slypher's thrashing had grown more intense now as he started losing hold of the body. He screeched; Téa waited for it to shift to Yugi but noticed that she could somehow hear both voices at once. She looked down and saw that it was Yugi's mouth forming his voice, so what was doing the screeching?

Twin sets of jaws gnashed their teeth and rumbled with a dragon's roar, nearly biting her in the process.

Téa paled and jerked back. "Slypher!"

"No… It's Slypher's spirit!" exclaimed Ryou. Téa looked again and saw that the image of Slypher that had nearly bit her was truly that, a transparent image superimposed over Yugi's body. Slypher's long tail coiled around his body, and his clawed hands were closed around where Yugi's heart should be. Their faces lined up, both contorted with agony. The Orb had filled with so much lightning that it was now a solid blaze of red. It had risen high off of Yugi's chest; if the chain were not there holding it down, it could have easily floated away. (3)

"_No!_" Slypher snarled, through both Yugi's mouth and his own, but their voices had ceased to be a blend of dragon and human. "_I will not go back! Not to my prison!_"

Téa glared at him with all the ferocity of her heart. "You should have thought about that before you thought to possess him!"

"_NO!_" The transparent image of Slypher then dissolved into the frantic lightning being pulled into the Orb. A great pulse of crimson light poured from it, staining the entire hall with its bloodied glow. The electricity inside crackled madly and pulled into a single bolt. Against the backdrop of crimson light a rift opened up between the Orb and the ceiling. The air split, becoming a swirling mass of cloth-like gas that led to the endless abyss of the heavenly plane. Slypher screeched again through Yugi's mouth in wild desperation, his tail thrashing, his hands clawing the air though Joey held them tight, all in resistance to his impending fate. The Orb chose then to release the bolt: it lanced upward, plunging into the planar rift, and pulled with it all the stored energy in the Orb. Slypher's wrathful roar echoed over the noise of the lightning as it disappeared within the rift forever. Then the rift closed, the sanguineous veils diminished, and Slypher could be heard no more. The last of the light faded from the Orb and it clinked harmlessly back against Yugi's chest.

His body fell still, no longer thrashing. Joey and Red-Eyes tentatively let go of him and pulled back. Téa threw herself over him. "Yugi! Yugi, are you okay? Please answer us!"

There came no response over his ragged breathing. She moved to shake his shoulder gently when suddenly he lurched. There came a noise like he was choking; then he gave a great cough from deep in his lungs and blood filled his mouth. It splattered to the floor and soaked into the stones.

"Oh gods!" Téa cried. Yugi kept hacking and choking. More of the crimson liquid poured from his mouth to join the puddle now forming beside him.

"Shit! He's hurt!" Joey hollered. All of his coughing had reopened the wound on his shoulder. Though they hadn't noticed it earlier, the burn on his tail had also split and begun to bleed. All the while Yugi kept coughing up more and more blood.

'_All of the wounds Soulmaster received are plaguing him at once_.' Mahado shut his eyes and looked away from Yugi. He could not bear to see his pain. He could already sense the agony he felt through their bond. '_When Slypher received those injuries, he used his magic to block most of the pain from reaching his body. Now that he is gone, they return full force to strike my Soulmaster_...'

"Damn it! At this rate he'll die!" Joey jumped to his feet and turned to his Red-Eyes. "He can't stay here! We have to get him somewhere where we can stop the bleeding!"

Téa continued to seek a response in Yugi. "Yugi, please! Please, say something! Anything!"

Another wave of blood passed from his mouth, and then his eyes flickered. They had not fully opened, nor had they shown any conscious intent, but for a split second Téa saw the one thing that could tell her that Yugi himself was all right:

His eyes were purple.

After that Yugi stiffened, the coughs halting, and in a long exhale of breath he fell slack. All four of them panicked. "Yugi!"

"Wait a minute," said Ryou. "He's still breathing." Indeed he was, though his breaths were quite as ragged as they had been previously. "He just passed out."

"Yeah, but that might be because he's lost too much blood," countered Joey. He looked sternly at Ryou. "We need to get him to civilization. I need Téa to help me take him there, but we can't leave the others–" he motioned vaguely behind him to the other resistance members lying unconscious, "– here alone. Ryou, I don't want to do this, but I need you to stay behind and look after them."

Ryou nodded, his deep eyes taking on their dutiful shine. "Yes."

Red-Eyes bent low to the ground. Téa helped Joey lift Yugi while he continued to speak. "Once we get Yug' taken care of, I'll come back for ya'." He heard a low groan from across the room and saw that Mai was stirring. "Mai'll help you if her headache isn't killing her too much."

"Take care of Yugi!" Ryou called as Red-Eyes made for the door.

"We will," he answered. Yugi was situated between the two on Red-Eyes's back. Téa had her arms around him to hold him steady, careful not to touch the burn on his shoulder. Red-Eyes made it outside and took to the skies immediately.

As they flew in search of a town, Téa gazed down at Yugi sadly. "Don't die, Yugi," she murmured.

"He sure as hell better not die," Joey said, and Téa looked up at him in surprise. "If he does all the lives Slypher took will have no way of being avenged."

* * *

(One) – At that point I realized that's _exactly_ how Yugi stands. Stupid me. I decided to leave it because I rather liked that paragraph.

(Two) – A note on Slypher's power and the souls: Slypher is as we know the god of heaven, the sky, and arguably lightning. He gains power when people die not because he absorbs their soul or whatever, but because they pass over the brink of life and death. "Heaven" in the sense of "the god of heaven" refers more to the afterlife in general, as opposed to just the good half where there are a bunch of angels with harps. As the god of the afterlife, then, he gains power when there are more souls actually in the afterlife. He only receives energy from them when they cross the brink, and not continually after they enter the afterlife. That's why he has to kill to gain power, for he can only gain it the instant they die. Just thought y'all would enjoy a little explanation.

(Three) – There is art for this scene on my deviantART journal thing. There's a link to this journal (the archive for all my FBK:HC art) on my profile page. Yay for shameless art plugs!

SC: It's done! I got so close to being done on Sunday, but I couldn't finish because I had to leave. For those of you who don't know, I don't have Internet at my house, so I can only post stuff when I go to my dad's office. He's been out of town for nearly a month, and that's why this chapter is so late. Sorry everyone!

How about that? What a fight scene, eh? How was it?

There will be one more out-of-game-plot chapter after this! Then we'll go back to the game with "Break Free" (the chapter I had to do out of order in order to fit it in better).

Unless you count "Crucial Battle" (which I kind of don't since it's really two), this is the longest chapter! You just read 13,519 words! Aren't you proud?

Thank you for reading, and please review! It keeps me going as I sit though summer school speech class!


	16. Lightning Rent

SC: …I'm not going to say anything… This is the last chapter of the off-game plot. We return to the game storyline next time. 

Enjoy the huge chapter of fluff.

**Lightning-Rent**

Footsteps creaking along the red oak floor, the innkeeper inserted the gnarled iron key into the lock on the door and twisted it forcefully to the right. The heavy click earned a weary half-smile in thanks of another day's end. He then turned and shuffled back to his room on the first floor. Locking up the inn for the night was standard procedure at this hour: he had no assistants to keep the night watch for him, so he had to lock the door to prevent ne'er-do-wells from the streets from wandering in. No one ever came by this late at night, anyway. It was past midnight in a small trading town; who would be out in search of a room in the middle of the night, excepting the ne'er-do-wells? The innkeeper lay down on his rickety old bed, blew out the candle on the nightstand, and let out a long sigh.

_Knock, knock, knock!_

He frowned to himself. The rooms above him held no guests at the time. He wished he would stop imagining people moving around on the second floor, even though it would make his pockets happy if there were. With a grunt he rolled over and pulled the blanket up to his shoulder.

_Knock, knock, knock!_

Worry shoved aside what fatigue the innkeeper had. Certainly no one would be coming by at this hour?

_Knock_ – a pause, followed by loud scratching noises, then: CRUNCH!

"Heavens!" The innkeeper threw off the covers and sat up quickly. The sound had rattled the candleholder on his nightstand with its volume. Just outside his door he heard voices debating incoherently, then heavy footsteps pounded their way up the stairs. "Thieves!" he hissed to himself. He fumbled around in the dark until he managed to light the candle. Seizing a broom in his other hand, he gripped the doorknob and flung it open, ready to whack the nearest thief over the head.

He screeched to a halt when he saw that the being outside his door was something he didn't expect to see: a woman!

"Oh, sir!" she cried upon seeing him. He was still frozen with the broom half-raised over his head and a dumbfounded look on his face. Her voice proved her to be younger than she had first appeared in the dim candlelight. She was dressed in strange clothes that the innkeeper had never seen the likes of before, even in all his years. "We're sorry for barging in like we did, but we needed a room!" She stepped forward a few paces and looked at him apologetically. "We're sorry about your door…"

"My door?" The innkeeper turned to look at the door, or, more correctly, where the door had been. It was now a mass of splinters and broken planks in the middle of the floor. The hinges and lock that had originally held it were now twisted scraps of iron. "My door!" he wailed.

"Oh sir," she said, and her voice took on a pleading tone. "We're sorry for breaking in, in the middle of the night, but it was an emergency. Our friend is seriously injured. We were afraid he wouldn't make it if we didn't bring him to a place like this…" She held out a bag tied at the top with a bit of rope. "We'll pay for the room and the damage to your door."

The innkeeper took the bag from her, still slightly suspicious, and opened it. Inside were dozens of gold coins, glinting in the flickering candlelight. He gasped; usually the most he ever got out of a customer was a couple of silver pieces. Before he could reply to her someone thudded back down the steps. The innkeeper saw that it was a young man with blonde hair that shimmered not unlike the gold in his hand. "Téa!" he said, his voice anxious. He glanced halfway at the innkeeper. "Are we clear for the night?"

The innkeeper nodded slowly, his jaw still slightly open. "Yeah," the girl answered. "Joey, how's Yugi?"

"Not so good – his shoulder's a mess and he's still coughing up blood even though he's out cold. You'd better get up there before it gets any worse. I have to get back to Ryou and get the others here." He jogged past and was out the door without another word.

"Right." The girl then turned back to face the innkeeper. "Sir, do you have anything I could use to…?"

"There's a bag of cloth bandages and some herbs behind the counter," he mumbled back. She nodded and rushed over to grab it. Seconds later it was in her hand, and she dashed up the stairs and out of sight. A door clicked shut upstairs, and then all was quiet.

The innkeeper stood immobile for a long moment, staring at the stairs in disbelief. He shook himself from his daze and started sweeping up the splinters on the floor. From what he had heard, it sounded as though he would be having more guests shortly.

* * *

Once inside the room at the top of the stairs Téa immediately moved to Yugi's side and knelt beside his bed. Joey had left him lying on his stomach so as not to pin his wings, with the injured shoulder facing away from the wall so it could be more easily treated. During the course of the flight it had stopped openly bleeding but still refused to let the blood dry completely. Already the white sheets sported pinkish smears from their contact with the wound. 

Téa opened the bag and removed its contents. As the innkeeper had said, there were rolls of linen bandages, a few small cloths for cleaning wounds, and small bunches of dried herbs tied together with twine. She didn't recognize any of the plants except for a few slightly wilted leaves of aloe, which she determined would be of no use on such a severe wound. She sighted a pitcher of water on a nearby dresser and fetched it, letting the cloth in her hand soak in the cool liquid as she moved.

"Okay, Yugi," she murmured, more to settle her nerves than anything, "I know you can't hear me, but know this: I'm here for you. The others too, they care about you. That's why you have to live." Yugi coughed weakly in response, and a few red spots settled on the sheet near his mouth.

Taking in a deep breath, she set to work. Even though she tried to be gentle, the contact of the cloth to the broken skin of his shoulder made Yugi draw a hissed breath in pain. "Shh," Téa soothed again. "I know it hurts, but I have to do this. You'll be okay."

Inwardly she fidgeted with this statement. Though it was truly her wish for him to recover, she was deeply worried that he wouldn't. When he had been coughing up blood… there had been so much, it was a wonder he didn't cough out his heart along with it. She was no doctor, but she knew that the only thing that would cause such a response was severe internal damage somewhere along his airway: the lungs, throat, et cetera. She couldn't even remember a blow he had received that would have caused it. Knowing that, she was terrified to think that maybe he had other internal injuries they didn't know about, and here, with the limited technology of the virtual realm, the chances of him surviving such complications were so slim…

"_No_," she told herself aloud, forcefully, for all the room to hear. "You can't think like that, Téa. Yugi _will_ live. You won't let him die."

By now the wound had been thoroughly cleaned of dirt and blood and had all the charred bits of fabric removed. Before any new blood could start seeping up from it she grabbed a roll of bandages from the floor and started covering the area. Yugi flinched and hissed again, but all in all he was either too weak or too much in pain to move much while she worked. At last she finished and half-tied, half-tucked away the end of the bandage neatly. Already she felt better looking at it, for as long as it was covered she could pretend that it wasn't there.

"There now," Téa said to him quietly. "Doesn't that feel better?" She felt a little silly, talking to someone she knew couldn't respond, but it helped to brighten the grave tone in her eyes. Yugi, too, seemed less tense than before; she prayed that it be because his shoulder didn't hurt as much and not because he was growing weaker. Shaking herself from her worry yet again, Téa grabbed another roll of bandages and moved over to his tail. It was too long to fit completely on the bed, so most of it lay half-coiled on the floor beyond. She had to search the seemingly endless mass of scales for several moments before she found her query: the burn left by Ryou's Parrot Dragon. It was difficult to pick out from the rest of his tail, for the blood it had lost was nearly the same color as the scales around it; fortunately the wound was nowhere nearly as bad as the one on his shoulder, requiring only a few passes around his tail to completely cover it.

Téa sighed and leaned back. Now she was at the hardest part: the waiting. She couldn't do much else to help him at this point, nothing but kneel beside him and take his hand in hers, gripping it firmly, hanging on to his every breath as she watched over him into the thin hours of the night.

* * *

She stayed like that for a long time. 

How long, she wasn't sure. All she knew was that she was cold and her knees hurt from pressing into the wood floor. She had long since lost feeling in her feet. Still, she could not pry her gaze away from him, could not for an instant lift her eyes from the slight rise and fall of his breathing, as if the only thing that could assure his survival was her continual watch. If she looked away, if only for a second, he would give in to the weight of his injuries and die right in front of her, and it would be her fault.

This wasn't to say that she wasn't preoccupied. As she kept the chilly air from reaching his hand, her mind churned through everything it could, working hard, but moving slowly and curving back into itself so that little progress was truly made. Everything was a blur to her. She hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours. The room around her was hardly there, a setting of distant openness that allowed everything to drift. Reality and fantasy, her thoughts and her memories, exhaustion and the tingling feeling of being acutely awake, once individual colors, now ran together and mixed and made new colors, new versions of the truth and her own hopes.

While she struggled to sort out this warp of color and events, one thing remained painfully sharp in the back of her head: Slypher's words. Stiff and biting, they rolled around above the din of everything else, refusing to settle and mix. They reared up, hissed their messages of spite, and slithered away before she could cover them up with forget.

She tried to ignore it, but couldn't. The more she focused on eliminating them the more she focused on their words and on their sound. The sound struck her hardest. Even though the _words_ were Slypher's – she pounded this thought into her brain again and again – the voice had nonetheless been _Yugi's_ as he spoke. It came from the same throat, the same vocal chords… Slypher had used it differently, using more air to create a thinner hissing sound, but under it had always been the familiar voice of her closest friend.

"_How can you believe in that bond when you now know it is the cause of his enslavement?_"

Yugi had said that. Yugi's voice, _his_ voice. It was as if Yugi himself were blaming Téa for everything that had happened. Yugi himself, telling her that she had offered his heart to the sanguineous god. _You can't think like that, Téa. It was Slypher, not Yugi. He never said any of those things. He never _would_ say any of those things._

…_Would he?_

How could she know if that were true? The stark reality of the matter hit her hard. She had no access to Yugi's mind or his thoughts, and Slypher, having spent over a day in control, would certainly know the inner workings of the body he held. How much of what Slypher said was true, and how much wasn't?

He said it would be impossible to break his control over Yugi, and yet they had succeeded in driving him out. That statement, then, had obviously been false. What then of his description of the Orb's destruction? Though he had left out some of the self-incriminating details, what he _did_ say had been true, confirmed by the Dark Magician. The rest of his words were similarly balanced on the scales of truth and lies: he said that he would kill them all, yet didn't despite having several chances to do so; he said that he had strength aside from lightning, and stopped Joey in his tracks.

Given all of this, how could she know? How could she know if she really was the cause for everything or not? She wouldn't put it past that demon to lie just to make her suffer, but then again, those words biting at the back of her brain carried a pain stronger than anything evil could carry, a pain of truth. Slypher had been _inside_ Yugi, wrapped around his heart and soul, the closest to his true nature. He could easily see the truth within his captured soul. Though she believed Slypher to be the type of demon to lie to make her suffer, she believed him to be the type of demon to tell the _truth_ to make her suffer more. Téa was torn across this balance, half of her wanting so much to deny it all her fault, half of her brimming with the guilt and logic that it might actually be.

Another thought drove the debate of fact or fiction; one that should have been the focus of her energy yet strangely was not, even though it was the biggest thing there. Like having a pond with a shark just below the surface: the shark is urgent, a problem, and yet one ignores it, concentrating instead on the smooth water and lily pads and ignoring the ripples caused by a giant blade slicing through them.

She recalled the words perfectly. They had been looping under Slypher's hiss for some time now, drilling into her subconscious while her conscious mind churned away at everything.

"_He was willing to have me destroy everything within radius, just to avenge… his love_."

His_ love_.

Could it be true? A lie formed by Slypher or something with a dash of truth, like her mixed reality? This wasn't just anything. This wasn't just a simple act of marking it as true or false. It was important; it was _love_.

What if… what if Yugi _did_ love her? She wouldn't know what to think then. A detached part of her would soar above the clouds, but the rest of her would feel the weight of guilt anchoring her to the ground. If he really did… _love_ her… (She almost couldn't bring herself to think the word)… then that would only solidify her fault by marking the summoning of Slypher as the return stroke of his heartbreak. Her death had been the cause of his heartbreak, and her kindness in their friendship had drawn him close to her before that… Every event eventually tied back directly to her.

The only thing left to the debate was the answer to her question: did Slypher speak the truth?

She couldn't know – not until Yugi revived and she could see his heart in his eyes.

* * *

Téa sat beside Yugi into the thin hours of the morning, when dawn's breath lessened the weight of the darkness until the air was light enough to carry birdsong. She had hardly moved at all in that time – maybe she even fell asleep sitting up – when she heard the sound of voices ringing against the buzz in her ears. They weren't loud, but they were strong, serious: the voices of worry. 

Before she even realized it they were right behind her. "Téa," came the surprised voice of Joey, "what are you still doing up?"

_I couldn't sleep_ she mouthed, but even her voice was too tired to speak.

"Téa, you look awful. Get some rest."

She gave an unsteady twitch in protest. She couldn't move now. She _had_ to stay with him until he woke up; she had to know the answer…

"Téa, you need sleep. Yugi will be here. I'll stay with him."

Her head throbbed and she made a feeble groan of protest. _No_ she tried to say, _I can't_… but before she could voice her desire a warm hand settled on her shoulder. As soon as it landed, warm with a protective concern, her entire body gave out. Her exhaustion accepted its comforting heat as a blanket, and the care in the words behind it as a bed, and pulled her backward into sleep so quickly she didn't feel Joey catch her.

"Damn," he muttered, "another person to carry to bed."

* * *

Joey sighed and leaned his chair back to rest against the wall. Idly he watched the clouds scroll past through the small window beside him. Mid-afternoon daylight poured in from the opening, setting alight small flurries of dust in the air. He stayed like that until he heard footsteps approaching the room and looked up from his daze. 

The door across from him cracked open. "Joey?"

"Oh, Ryou. I didn't expect you to be up so soon." The two of them had been taking turns watching over Yugi while they caught up on their rest. On Ryou's last shift Joey had gotten in a good several hours of sleep, which had helped to ease the almost aching exhaustion he felt, but not even sleep could settle the whirlwind in his mind right now.

Ryou's deep eyes caught the light of the sun without reflecting it. "I couldn't sleep much at all… Too much tension… I've come to relieve you."

"Nah, I'm up for keeps now." He glanced down at the bed beside him where Yugi lay. "Couldn't force myself to sleep if I wanted to," he muttered as he watched his best friend take in slow, shallow breaths. Every so often there would be a slight groan and his brow would crease from some spasm of internal pain.

Ryou was silent for a moment. He watched the pair wearily before his thoughts returned to him. "I've been to check on the others," he said, careful not to disturb the dangling serenity the room had.

Joey didn't look up at him. "And?"

"They seem to be all right. Fizdis isn't injured. I stopped the attack before any serious damage could be done…" His eyes flickered and he glanced at the powerful tail now lying motionless across the room. Memories swirled up against him and he swayed slightly on his feet. "I… I think it's just stress from the battle keeping her out now. She'll be fine.

"Shimon… He was roughed up quite a bit. I don't doubt that having a dinosaur thrown at him did something to him. His breathing's a little rough; might be some rib damage. He's stable though, for the moment."

Ryou saw Joey's eyes flicker with an unreadable emotion. "What about Mai?" he murmured.

"The last time she came to, she was dizzy and… I guess 'out of it' would be a nice way of putting it." He shook his head slightly. "We'll have to wait until she wakes up again to see how she's doing."

"Hmm…" Joey turned to look out the window again. "Is Tristan alive?"

"What? Y-Yes!" Ryou blurted, alarmed by the casual tone Joey had used to voice the question. "Of course he's alive! Judging from the amount of muttering in his sleep he's been doing, I'd say he's quite well!"

"Good. I was worried that demon might've lied about the poison not being lethal." He brought the front legs of his chair back down to meet the floor. "I guess even Slypher can tell the truth…" He trailed off with a distant look in his eyes.

Ryou followed his movement with his eyes. "You're worried about Yugi."

"Damn it Ryou, of course I'm worried about Yugi!" Joey snapped. "He's just been through Hell and got ripped apart along the way, and that's just the damage we know about!" He stared at Yugi, blinking back the salty feeling in his eyes. "When he wakes up he could be… he could still be…"

"Joey…" Ryou sensed his friend's thoughts and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Slypher's gone now. We saw him get dispelled. You know he's not inside Yugi anymore."

"We don't know that though!" he hollered back, now on his feet. "We don't know that he's all gone! Maybe part of him got left behind and is still there! Maybe, even if he's gone, he did something to Yug' so that he won't be himself when he wakes up…" he trailed off and turned his gaze to the floor. "And maybe I'm just being stupid about everything, but I couldn't stand it if Yugi were affected by this."

"He already has been affected, Joey," Ryou said quietly.

"You know what I mean. More so than the obvious." The blonde glanced forlornly at the crimson-scaled wings resting against his friend's back. He wanted to rip them off or shove them back where they had come from, yet there they were, leering and solid. "That stuff he can handle. Yugi's tough. But if it did something to him on the inside… messed with his head or something… then I'll summon that demon myself so I can tear him apart."

The was a buzzing silence after that, during which the two of them did nothing but listen to the scratch of Yugi's breathing. After a moment Ryou spoke: "So then… How has he been doing? While you've been watching, I mean. Has he gotten any better?"

"…Not really," Joey replied. "He's almost the same as he was back at the castle. The big wounds will take longer than just overnight, I know… but even the little scrapes and stuff from the battle haven't healed. I don't understand it, Ryou. I thought people were supposed to heal quickly here."

"I thought so, too. Anything else?"

Just then Yugi flinched and gave a cough. A few droplets of blood joined the smattering of red on the sheet and left a thin trail at the corner of his mouth. "Yeah," he said faintly. "He's still coughing up blood. He's been doing that the whole time I've been here. It's gotta' be something on the inside that's causing it."

Ryou shook his head. "Not just that." He moved and sat carefully on the side of the bed. He peered over Yugi sadly. "There's internal damage, yes… but the damage to his soul is much more than anything physical he's suffered."

"His soul?" Joey echoed. "…How is it?"

"I don't know the full extent of the damage. I'd have to see his eyes to do that." He closed his eyes briefly. "But I can _feel_ some of it, the way tearing apart from Slypher has affected it."

"And?"

"The edges are flayed. Sharp, uneven – splintered like wood. The interior is rough with holes where Slypher's influence was forced out. All in all, it's a mess… shredded remnants of what it was. I don't know if it's possible to reverse that kind of damage."

"What are you saying!" Joey yelled suddenly, seizing Ryou's jacket in his fist. "That he'll never recover?"

"I didn't say that, Joey!" Ryou eased. "I don't know if he will or won't. I don't know anything other than what I just told you." He breathed again when Joey released him. "The damage to his soul is just as bad as his external injuries, maybe even worse. If he is to recover at all, it will take time."

"Argh… Listen, Yugi," Joey said with a voice of half determination and half pleading, "you'd better get better soon, 'cause we can't get outta' here without you."

* * *

Gaping holes tugged in each direction, pulling on lumps of conscious thought; like puzzle pieces falling on either side of her, forming an array of nothing and not… 

Téa's eyes slid open. Light streamed into wherever she was, but it was too bright for her to see anything. She scrunched up her eyes and groaned in protest. "Go away," she grumbled hoarsely.

"I'd love to, Hon', if you're going to talk to me like that."

"What?" Téa opened her eyes again. A slightly distorted image of Mai came into view, blonde hair shining unbearably in the bright light.

She came closer, the heels of her boots knocking on the wooden floor, and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Just kidding you, Hon'. I came in to check up on you. We ladies have to look out for each other, you know."

Téa shifted in the small cot to a more upright position now that she was more awake. "What do you mean, 'Look out for?'"

Mai laughed, and though it had been a casual one it still held all of her brimming femme fatale charm. "You've been sleeping so long you can't even remember it!" She turned to face her now, and Téa could see in her vibrant eyes a friendly warmth that she couldn't remember ever seeing before. "You've been asleep for almost a whole day; I'm not surprised, considering how much you've been through."

"A day!"

"Yeah. I've already been told the story of what happened in the castle. I hear you were pretty brave when you were facing Slypher."

_Slypher_. The hiss of Mai's tongue on the word brought back the reels of snarls to circulate through her thoughts. Immediately Téa's eyes dimmed to a cold slate color, impervious to the warmth Mai's eyes gave her. "Yugi…"

"Téa." The deliberate use of her name made her look up into Mai's concerned gaze. "I meant what I said about us ladies looking after each other. I want to make sure you're okay. You're taking everything hard – and that's not to say that we aren't; this whole thing has gotten down to everyone's center – but it's different to you. Ah!" she countered before Téa could interrupt. "Let me talk. I want to help."

She bowed her head for a moment then as though in thought. Her eyes flickered in the shadows behind her curling hair. "I've heard the stories. Witnessed half of them. Right now I can hardly believe that I'm sitting here: partly because I can't even begin to believe what took place, and partly because I can't believe I actually survived it."

Téa's eyes widened at this, and focused their whole effort on Mai. Was that a drop of silver nesting in the shadows? "I was afraid when we first walked into that castle, Téa. I was afraid, and I hadn't even seen Slypher for myself yet. Those eyes terrified me; like Death's gaze, leading straight to Hell…

"But I fought him anyway. I didn't let my fear show. It tore at me inside, but I knew that if I let my fear show, that would be the end. I'd be sliced under his tail, dead, and there would be no hope of bringing Yugi out of that madness. Do you see what I'm saying?" Mai placed a hand on Téa's shoulder. "The only thing that will make everything better is fighting what we fear. We can't let ourselves think the worst for ourselves or for Yugi. Letting sorrow and doubt show through will only hurt him more than he already has been."

Mai stared at her patiently, but Téa could no longer hold her gaze and looked down at the bed. The silence hissed in her ear through quicksilver fangs: "_How can you believe… You are the cause_…"

"Hurt him more…" she whispered as tears began to fill her eyes. She didn't fight them; indeed in her heart she felt deserving of the punishment. All the guilty sadness she had pent up now spilled down her face, glistening weakly in the sunlight. Mai watched in silent understanding.

"Téa," the hand on her shoulder gripped softly, "maybe the others haven't seen it, but I'm looking at it right now. You're blaming yourself for Slypher." Téa nodded; no use in hiding it now, when she had already accepted herself as the fault behind everything. "You're wrong about that," Mai told her. "No one as innocent as you could be to blame for someone so evil."

"But I _am_," Téa spluttered through her tears. "Everything _is_ my fault. I'm the reason Yugi summoned Slypher, I'm the one that caused it all!"

"Téa. I want you to answer me this: were you the one that sealed Slypher away centuries ago?"

Téa gulped in a wad of air in a watery gasp. She wasn't expecting such a question to come from Mai. "N-No," she mumbled.

"Were you the one to draw Slypher's destructive streak? Were you the one to fill him with the hate of a thousand years, and did you turn it into a thirst for bloody revenge? Did you shove Slypher inside Yugi's body with your own hands?"

It felt as though Mai were opening a window with her words and allowing the first spring breeze to finally brush against her heart. "I did none of those things," she whispered.

"Mm. Then answer me this: were you the one who fought so hard for Yugi's freedom that you looked Slypher in his Hell eyes and told him that you weren't afraid of him?"

_Joey must have told her about that_. "Yes."

Mai let go of her shoulder then and folded her arms. "Then to me the only sin you're guilty of is a strong heart."

_A strong heart_, Téa repeated mentally. _Even Slypher said that_… Suddenly, the gravity of the dragon god's words meant nothing to her. All the events lumped together in her head melted away until nothing remained but a balance of the strength of the hearts. A weak heart, weighted by darkness enough to kill an innocent, countered with a heart strong enough to summon a god in repercussion; a heart weak with hateful revenge against a heart determined to banish it. She realized then that it was her heart that had carried her through the battle with Slypher. Yugi… the only thing he currently held was his lightning-torn heart. How could Téa hope to find the answer she sought if she continued to let her greatest connection to him suffer under her guilt?

"Mai…" Téa looked up, her eyes colored with the light of a new day. "Thank you."

"No problem, Hon'. Now, what say we go rejoin those stiff old boards we call friends, hmm?" she asked, giving Téa a light slap to the knee. "I think they've moved less than you have recently, unless you count the pacing."

"Where are they?"

"They're all in the next room, being deadweights like I said. I bet seeing you finally up and about will cheer them out of their funk." Then Mai laughed her trademark carefree laugh and strode towards the door.

_You've already done so much to cheer me up, Mai_, thought Téa. Some of her joking and laughs had probably been forced efforts to raise her own spirits, not just Téa's. _I'll do what I can to repay you._

_And Yugi_.

* * *

"Tada," Mai declared when Téa entered the room to everyone's turned head. 

"Wow," said Joey with a whistle. "You managed to get her up."

"I told you all it needed was a woman's touch."

"Yeah right… Sheesh…"

"So you're all right then, Téa?" asked Tristan.

Téa jumped at his voice. "Tristan, you're awake?"

He sighed and leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed: his favorite position for the past several hours. "Yeah."

"Not a mark on him either, save the bite on his arm," added Ryou. "He got off luckier than most of us."

Joey had his eyes fixed pointedly at the distant floor as he said: "Too bad Yug' wasn't that lucky."

"Joey," Mai took a step forward to strengthen her presence, "stop it. You said you wouldn't. You can't change what already happened. We can only hope for the present to get better."

"How can we do that, though?" he countered. "How can we hope for anything in the present to get better if Yug' won't get better?"

At these words the small amount of hope Téa had built up in her heart deflated into a lumpy blob. She wanted to know Yugi's status, but had resolved to herself not to be the one to ask first. "You mean nothing's changed…?"

"Nothing. His wounds won't heal; he's still in pain… and we don't the hell know _why!_" Joey gripped the edge of his chair angrily.

Ryou shook his head. "I've been thinking it over for a while, and – I know I'm no doctor, but… I think it may be related to the damage to his soul."

He turned to look at Téa, his gaze sympathetic to the new worry on her face. "When Slypher was banished, Yugi's soul was left torn. It's badly damaged – and, based on what happened to me when I got hurt, we know the soul is what controls healing in this world. So, until his soul recovers, I don't think he'll be able to heal physically…"

"And we're not even sure if recovery is possible," Joey added forlornly. "Ryou says the damage is serious. There may not be a way to fix everything."

Téa felt as though an arrow had pierced her heart. "I don't believe that," she said curtly. Where had the strength in her voice come from? She certainly hadn't spoken like this in the past two days. "There must be a way to put everything back together."

"It's not that simple, though," Ryou answered. "It's not simply a tear, a scattering of pieces: there are _holes_, pieces missing, destroyed by contact with Slypher and lightning."

"I don't care. I refuse to believe the effort is hopeless. Isn't Yugi worth hoping for?" No one answered. "Maybe you've forgotten, in light of recent events, how strong his soul is. Remember that the strength of his will is what called Slypher in the first place." _Not me._

Silence, and a truth lifting their eyes. No one moved as Téa crossed the room, paused standing at Yugi's side, and then knelt. Barely visible, hiding beneath the collar of his jacket, was the silver glimmer of a thin chain. She held it carefully between her fingers and eased the injured soul gem out into the open. The once regal amethyst looked as beaten as its owner: the color was torn, leaving ragged scars where the gem had been drained of its purple hue and replaced with the empty clarity of glass. Sometimes the edges were abrupt, jagged lines that dropped off immediately, and other times the color would fade away gradually into nothing. What color there was left was a deadened hue, like thick paint mixed with smoky lead, a decayed color. Such a gem could only reflect a similar internal state of the soul.

Téa held it cupped in her hands and watched the thick purple imperfections determinedly. She focused all her heart on the heart in her hands. _Please Yugi_, came her thoughts. _We need to see you back with us. We can't take much more worry. I believe… I _know_ you can do it. Only your heart has the strength to come back from this. We'll be here waiting, and we'll lend you our strength._ Around her, the others in the room held the sparks of equal standings in their eyes.

"We wait."

* * *

Night of the second day came quickly. Most everyone had gone to bed by now, even Téa, though it had taken some convincing to get her to sleep. The only one who remained awake now was Ryou, whom had volunteered to keep watch over Yugi. As the only one that could see magic in his soul, the others figured he would be the most able to keep an eye on him. As Ryou sat in the moonlit darkness, waiting for the sun to rise, his eyes drifted unconsciously to Yugi's still form. He tightened his gaze slightly, aiming for the sharp edges of violet in his soul. 

He gasped. Rough magic, like the teeth of a saw, had worn down, smoothed, and lost its edge. Indeed, Ryou could hardly _feel_ the damage anymore: the only reason he had been able to do so earlier was due to its sharpness. The edges were still uneven, and not all of the gaps had filled, but still, the dramatic change in his status was enough to leave Ryou's mouth ajar. Such a recovery in only the few hours that had passed since Téa had reignited their hope was impossible… and things had grown quieter, like a constant noise had died away with the night breeze. Ryou listened and realized that he could no longer hear Yugi's rough breathing.

Amethyst, slowly brightening, glinted in the moonlight.

* * *

The next morning Ryou was quick to relay the news to everyone. 

"No way," said Joey, "not that quickly," yet he sounded excited all the same. Everyone came into the room to see, except for Shimon, whom was using the down time to see if he could find any information on the location of Scott's forces. Even Fizdis, who had been too shaken to visit him the previous day, was now smiling happily. Emotions ran even higher when Ryou announced that Yugi might even wake up soon.

"Still," he said with a look of thought in his eyes, "I don't know what would have caused such a rapid gain…"

"Why does it matter?" asked Téa, returning to her favorite spot: kneeling beside Yugi. "As long as he's getting better, that's all we need to know." She took his soul gem into her hands again, just as she had the previous day. She had never once put it down, not until she was made to go to bed… and then Ryou understood.

_The contact with her soul is helping to heal his_, he thought. _She has such vitality, such hope for him, that her energy is moving to soothe the damage_… (1)

They waited. The sun climbed higher into the late morning sky. Its increase of warmth and light seemed to mirror Yugi's recovery, for even those without magical sight could see the purple moving to fill in the gaps of the gem. Their anxiety grew alongside the color, and it peaked as violet quivered against the last scratch of clarity.

"Come on! Go faster!" exclaimed Joey, and Mai whacked him.

"You can't rush these things, Joey!" she snapped.

"Yes," agreed Ryou. "Just because his soul has recovered doesn't necessarily mean he'll be ready to wake up, either…"

Téa looked down at the jewel, still a tad dull, but otherwise restored to its full color. Yugi hadn't even moved once during the whole ordeal, and she was starting to get worried. "What if there's something wrong with him?" she asked apprehensively.

"There's nothing wrong with him," an irate Joey answered, as though he had been asked that question several times prior.

"But what if while Slypher was in there he did something that – "

"TÉA!" She fell quiet and took to staring at Yugi instead.

"Actually," Tristan began, "there's something _I've_ been wondering for awhile: why isn't he turning back to normal? I mean, since Slypher's gone the dragon parts should be going away, right?"

"I don't know. I was thinking the same thing, Tristan," said Ryou. "Maybe it has something to do with…" The boys took to conversation to keep their minds from worrying over Yugi. Téa ignored them and grasped Yugi's hand in her own, squeezing gently and hoping for him to soon awake.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the others, Yugi _was_ awake, but only in the minimal sense of the word. He lay in reverie, half-conscious to the world around him. He just felt so _tired_… Vapid were his arms and legs; he couldn't even direct his eyes to open and view the speakers above him. For true, he heard people talking miles away, not at all a confabulation but a heated discussion, near on argument. Their words were blurs, lost to his ears. He tried to focus on them, but doing so summoned a painful throb that pulsed thickly in his head.

"…But you have to admit, being out for three days might mean he's hurt or something…"

Those few words managed to sidle into Yugi's head before the headache grew too strong and he slipped back into semi-consciousness. Even with his fatigue, Yugi knew the speaker was talking about him. He assessed that as tired as he felt, he had to have been asleep for at least one, but _three_ days? What had he done that led him to be so malaise? In trying to figure it out he found that he had no memory at all. He remembered an impending battle with Scott, and then… nothing. Now he was here, confused and tired.

"Please, stop it," said a voice, its words much closer and able for Yugi to hear. "You're making me even more worried." Yugi recognized the voice and felt his heart flutter.

_Oh Gods, it can't be…_ Far away he felt a soft hand grip his own. _It's her_… _But she's dead; she can't be here_… and yet, his heart told him it could be no one else. Yugi mustered an ounce of strength, a relatively large amount in his current state, and gripped her hand back.

Téa nearly jumped when she felt Yugi's hand move. She stared down at it in disbelief. She could barely contain her excitement, yet she held silent despite herself. It could have been a fluke, just a twitch, but somehow she didn't believe that.

Releasing his grip on Téa's hand, Yugi moved his attention to his eyelids. His eyes slid open halfway: slightly out of focus but able to see the forms of people in front of him. The first thing his eyes identified was Téa's face, watching incredulously with wide sapphire eyes. "_Téa_…" he said blearily. "_You're alive_…"

She stared, hardly noticing the immense feelings of relief and joy pouring out from her heart. Ignoring the others in the room behind her, she answered him: "Yes, I am. I'm so glad you're all right, Yugi." Rings of silver appeared in her eyes as she fought to hold back the tears forming there.

"What! Yugi's awake?" That got everyone's attention and drew them to his bedside. Expressions ranging from relief to excitement to something like Joey's thought of _You punk. I should have known you would make it through_ bedecked their faces. They held back from swarming him, in case he was still weak.

Téa, nearest to him, took charge of speaking. "You had us worried, Yugi. We were afraid you were going to be asleep forever."

Yugi smiled a bit. He let his eyes close and rest for a moment before reopening them. "It's so hard to stay awake…"

"I'll bet," said Joey, grinning. "I'd be exhausted after all that, too."

"…Huh? What are you talking about?"

The blonde's smile faltered. "What, you mean you don't remember?"

"Remember…?" All Yugi knew was that he had faced Scott, and that Téa had been shot… Had there been something else beyond that? How did he get here anyway? He couldn't remember an end to the battle… "Remember what?"

Tristan let out a long whistle. "Oh man."

Ryou swallowed. "Yugi, are you sure you don't remember anything?"

Their constant pressure was unsettling to him. The way that they spoke made it evident that there was something Yugi was missing. He turned his thoughts inward, searching for something that might even be a shred of a memory; yet the farther he delved the more deeply he sank under his exhaustion. He truthfully couldn't recall anything that would put him here in his current pain. The air rumbled in his ears as he answered. "No. Just… the sound of thunder." (2)

Téa's grip trembled. _He really doesn't remember… This can't…_

Yugi's eyes flickered at her dismay. "Téa…" The dull throb in the back of his head made it hard for him to think straight. He couldn't understand why everyone seemed so distressed when nothing had _happened_.

"This… This isn't right," Ryou said slowly. "The struggle…"

Téa's gaze was distant. "The energy _was_ transferred–"

"We saw him fight! It was _him!_" Joey hollered.

"The _energy_ was transferred; I'm sure I saw _his_ magic fighting though…"

"Then explain to me how it is he can't remember!"

Joey's loud voice worsened the throbbing headache in the back of Yugi's head. He tried to shift and voice this, but instead invoked a snapping fire in his shoulder, one that hissed and drove jagged steel fangs down into the core of his nerves.

"_Aaahgh!_" he yelled with a choke in his voice. He was bewildered through his agony; how could so monstrous a pain such that he had never felt before be plaguing him if he had no recollection of receiving the wound?

"Yugi!" Téa was instantly at his side. "What's wrong?"

The pain from his shoulder thickened the pounding in his head so that each pulse from his heart sent shock waves through his skull. He couldn't bring Téa's image into focus, even though she was no more than two feet away. "_It hurts!_" he hissed through his teeth. "_My arm_–!"

Téa worked furiously over him, trying to find a way to make the fire subside, but behind her the others watched with varied worry. Tristan folded his arms over his chest, his eyebrows high above incredulous brown eyes. "You mean he _still_ hasn't healed?"

"The soul controls healing," Ryou reminded him gently. "Up until now, he hasn't been able to heal at all because his soul was in shreds." Joey watched Yugi's face, trying not to imagine what he must have felt.

He was also trying to forget the strange way Yugi's throat had rumbled during his yell.

Eventually the fires receded, quelled by Téa's aid, though they continued to smolder try as Yugi might to remain motionless. He sought his breath in rapid gasps through bared teeth; the rest of the room was dead silent aside from his noise. Tristan was glad Yugi had his eyes shut, so that he couldn't see him staring at the fangs that three days earlier had pierced his skin. He dared break the silence with a carefully worded sentence: "Yugi… How do you feel? Apart from the pain, I mean."

Yugi didn't answer immediately. "Tired," he said, and indeed his voice mirrored it. He added, "And cold."

_I wonder why_, Tristan thought dryly, eyeing the serpentine tail coiled on the chilly floorboards at the foot of the bed. "That's all? You don't feel… different?"

"Tristan, don't…" Mai warned. "He doesn't need that, not while he's hurt."

Her advice came too late, for Yugi's curiosity had already been piqued. "What do you mean?"

With a swallow and a detached thought of _I shouldn't have gotten myself into this_, Tristan replied, "I mean like, do you feel like yourself? Everything's as it should be?"

Yugi considered this question. He couldn't understand why Tristan would be asking him something like this. His first thought was to answer yes, that everything was normal; why shouldn't it be? Then he felt something distantly that held him back. When his shoulder had erupted, he had been too preoccupied to notice that he felt… heavier, like something was weighing him down. It was on his back mostly, but he dared not move to investigate it for fear of igniting the pain again.

Tristan waited patiently for an answer, and could have died of relief when Yugi said: "Everything feels normal to me." The others' faces lifted a little, all except for Joey, whom frowned at this response.

_That means he's all right, then_… Téa thought inwardly, feeling a bit of happiness. She looked down at him with a smile and gave his hand a light squeeze. His eyes opened and their gazes met, and for the first time since he had awoken she had a chance to see his irises clearly.

Her grip on his hand tightened.

_Oh gods_… "His eyes," she murmured, softly at first as she continued to stare, then louder when their appearance hit her. "His eyes! They're still…"

"What?" Yugi was afraid of the way Téa was looking at him, yet for some reason could not tear his eyes away even as the others moved to see. His voice shaky, he asked, "What about my eyes?"

His query fell on deaf ears. The others stood in shock over what they saw. Yugi's eyes had changed. The color was different, a lighter, slightly redder purple not unlike the shade that arose when embers touched his gaze. The original deep violet had shrunk to slanted spikes around the edges that drove in towards the middle – where his pupils had become slits, thinned with confusion.

Téa was distraught. She had thought his eyes would return to normal with Slypher's departure. It seemed instead that when the god had made them dragon's eyes, he made them so permanently. Only the leering yellow light that had once shone from them had vanished.

In one action everyone averted his or her eyes. Yugi tried to meet the gaze of one of them, but none would lift his or her head and lock with him. Somewhere deep inside, he was hurt by this. He clenched his eyes shut and turned his face into the pillow, mumbling, "I don't even know _what_…"

"I think you do."

The sudden force of these words struck the ears of everyone in the room. Such strength they carried, like the angry rumbling of thunderclouds before a storm; they were accusing, almost spiteful, so that Yugi raised his head in disbelief to meet the penetrating eyes of their speaker.

"Joey?"

"Hey man, what gives?" asked Tristan.

The blonde kept his expression hard, not breaking his pressing stare at Yugi. "I think you do know what happened."

"Joey, he already told us he doesn't remember," Ryou said cautiously, sensing Joey's heated emotions. "Don't you believe him?"

"No," he spat. "I refuse to believe that the past five days are completely blank in his memory."

Yugi did a double take. "_Five_ days?"

"Joey, please. This is ridiculous!" said Mai.

"That's exactly my point!" He rounded on her. "How could anyone not remember – well, _that?_"

"Why are you getting so worked up over this?" she demanded. "Can't you get it through your thick skull that he doesn't know?"

"Know _what?_" Yugi's confusion mixed painfully with the throb in his head. "What _happened?_"

"I don't know what's gotten into you, Joey," Tristan said with sternness in his eyes. "Attacking Yugi for not remembering?"

"I'm not attacking!"

"Then what do you call it? Being a bonehead?"

"Rrrgh… Listen to me! Something ain't right about this! You heard him say he didn't feel different. That's bad. He hasn't even realized…" Joey trailed off with a slight glance towards Yugi's back.

Yugi suddenly felt worried. "Realized…?"

"Joey, please don't," Téa said quietly, gripping Yugi's hand even more tightly.

"Don't what? Huh? Don't mention it even though it's right here in front of us?" His voice rattled the wooden room and everyone inside it with its tone of blazing nerves. "Don't speak of it, because one of our number can't see it for himself?"

He glared directly at Yugi. "It ain't right that he hasn't noticed. Or should I say, _very convenient_."

Finally everyone seemed to click on what Joey was getting at. Fizdis, timid in the wake of Joey's anger, broke her frail silence. "Y-You aren't suggesting that he's still…"

"Joey, we've been through this," Ryou said calmly. "He was dispelled. Everything left from _him_ is gone."

"So you say." Yugi hardly recognized the sound of Joey's voice anymore: filled with so much spite like he had never heard before… and his eyes were the same, sparkling with snippets of lightning-singed hate. "I for one find it painfully ironic that he knows absolutely nothing." His eyes narrowed into a piercing stare aimed at all of them. "It ain't that hard to act innocent."

"Now hold on. There's more here than you're acknowledging," Tristan said, folding his arms. "Maybe he hasn't noticed anything because he _can't_ feel it."

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here," Yugi cut in, his voice lingering on annoyance. "At least tell me what it is you're talking about."

Tristan looked down at him, a touch of sympathy in his gaze. To Joey he continued: "Look, I'll prove it." He moved out of Yugi's sight then, presumably at the foot of the bed, and bent down. He picked a spot on his tail, careful to avoid the bandaged area near the burn, and delivered a firm pinch.

Instead of getting no reaction as he had hoped, Yugi flinched. "Ow!"

Tristan reappeared at his side. "You felt that?"

"Of course I felt that!" Yugi answered. True, he had felt the small jolt up his spine… but it had been odd. It didn't seem right to him. It had been so far away – away enough to where he thought he shouldn't have been able to feel anything. "What did you do…?"

"That answers that question," Joey huffed.

"Joey…" Téa began, but trailed off.

"Mm. Well, given up on it yet, _Yugi?_" the blonde asked him fiercely.

Yugi's nerves prickled with anger. "Joey–!"

"Nope? Still clinging to the innocent act, huh? Tell me if you feel this, then!" Joey reached forward and grabbed a wing bone, giving it a swift tug. The pull breathed hard on his shoulder, creating flurries of flame on the sparks already present; yet this pain was forgotten almost instantly. Joey's tug had shifted the appendage and finally drawn it into Yugi's line of sight. His eyes flicked to the new object in his vision – and quivered.

Oh _Gods_.

Ebony leather stretched across crimson-scaled bone met his gaze. Harsh spikes crowned the highest point, almost level with the top of his head. Yugi stared for a long moment before his mind began working again and could identify the structure. "Wings…?" he murmured in a voice not his own.

"Oh, _now_ you recognize them? Took ya' long enough to remember you're _half dragon!_"

Yugi downright froze. "D-_Dragon?_" he stuttered. He turned his head – it took everything he had to suppress the tearing cries of his shoulder – and saw, far away, that the hand Téa kept grasped in her own bore the same red scales as those dominating the wing. He moved his fingers; watched as claws glinted back at him. For the first time, too, he tasted the point of fangs in his mouth, which he hadn't even realized were out of place. "Th-This can't be…"

Now Téa's anger had been incited. "Leave him alone, Joey! You're treating him like a snake. I know what your concern is – why can't you just give it up? He's just Yugi!" Joey turned to counter her, but was interrupted as Yugi started laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" he demanded.

"Everything. All of this. This pain is real… but the rest of it must be a dream." He shifted, resting his weight on his left arm so that he was slightly more upright, and locked eyes with Joey. "Because I _know_," his words turned colder, "that the _real_ Joey Wheeler wouldn't be saying such things to his friend."

Everyone else in the room remained silent, though Téa and Tristan bore the look of restraint. Joey had confronted Yugi, and even through his injury he had mustered the strength to stand the challenge. This was a fight between them.

"Bold words," Joey sneered. "Not ones just anyone would say." He held out his hand a little closer to Yugi. "Well? Are you gonna' take a snap at me to shut me up, then?"

Yugi's tongue touched a fang, yet he didn't move. He needed to stay calm. Getting angry in retaliation would only fuel Joey's spite, and Yugi still hoped to draw an explanation from him. "I don't understand you. You seem to think that I want to hurt you, deceive you. I won't sink to that level, if that's what you're asking. I have no _reason_ to."

"No reason except to protect your own hide, snake!"

"From what? You won't even tell me what happened!"

"No need to repeat common knowledge!"

Yugi growled. "You seriously think I'm someone else, don't you?" _Why, though?_ What could have taken place that would make Joey believe something like that?

"Wouldn't be the first time it's happened." Joey seemed to pull back some of his voice, drawing volume into a solidity of emotion. "It must be hard, restraining the urge to rip out my throat. 'Kill the mortal who dares defy me!' as you would say. But you won't. You can't, because you need safety. You need to keep outta' our reach. Well, you know something? You're here, and there's no way _this_ human is letting you out again!"

Something in that speech struck Yugi deeply. It wasn't the actual words, the accusations – he still had no idea what Joey was talking about – but something in the way that Joey had declared himself _human_ drove a spike through his static-tinged nerves. It angered him, and he didn't even know why… All in all it was the final straw. What contract he had to remain passive crumpled. Lips pulled back into a snarl, displaying his fangs openly. A growl formed in his throat, one that started in his vocal chords but soon drew up into the back of his throat as a rattling sound like wind through sheets of metal.

Anger vanished from Joey's face. His eyes, indeed everyone's, were wide with shock, for Yugi's growl had taken on that tone of thin air so epitomized by Slypher, a sound with no voice. Yugi, barely aware that he was doing it, suddenly cut off with a cough. He rubbed his neck broodingly: it hadn't hurt per se, but the unfamiliar sensation had tickled his tongue uncomfortably.

"That proves it," said Joey, slowly emerging from his rapture. "Yug' wouldn't have growled like that. No way."

Yugi looked up and felt hot emotion stir again – and that was enough to call another to the room.

A violet blaze of angry magic from somewhere around his neck, and the Dark Magician appeared full force. He stood tall without touching the floor, a look of burning comets in his eyes. He turned a glare toward Joey, _daring_ him to speak another hateful word. The blonde took that as the signal to shut his mouth tightly.

Yugi shook off the tingling sense of magic on his skin and stared up at the new arrival. "Mahado!"

No answer, not immediately. Mahado turned back to Yugi with a gentle scrape of violet armor. '_Soulmaster_,' he said, his voice reserved and, oddly enough, relieved. '_You are awake_.'

His sentiment was ignored. '_Move, Mahado! I have to finish this_.' Fang-points flashed up at him, a sign of aggression not yet quelled.

'_Soulmaster, this is not a fight to be seen through to the end_.'

'_I will not stand such animosity, not when I am ignorant of the circumstances!_'

'_You are right to show such anger, Soulmaster. Your friend accuses you wrongly_.' Mahado shook his head. '_Yet you must not blame him for this. Should you know the circumstances, you would understand his rationale_.'

'_I _don't_ know them; that's what I'm trying to find out!_'

As the pair debated, the others watched the fleeting trails of emotion on their faces: anger on Yugi's and a rising frustration on Mahado's. Unnerved by the silence, Mai spoke out: "Hey, what's with the staring contest? – Mmf!" A hand covered her mouth before she could say more.

"Don't." Surprisingly it had been Joey to cut her off. "You'll interrupt."

Yugi's eyes narrowed and mirrored the sorcerer's sternness. '_They refuse to tell me anything, Mahado. Even as they argue amongst themselves, they are careful to say nothing…_' Mahado shifted, and Yugi felt a barely present tremor of guilt between their magics. '_And I have a feeling that if I asked you, you too would deny me answers_.'

'_It is… not my place to speak of it_,' he answered. '_In saying nothing your friends have taken on the duty of protecting you_.'

'…_Was it really so awful a thing?_' Yugi asked. '_I can't imagine what would cause all of this…_'

'_You wouldn't. Yes, the event was… distressing. Extremely painful to those who witnessed it. Your proof lies with the injuries you bear. They are merely a fraction of the total…_'

'_Please, Mahado. Tell me what happened_.'

Mahado looked into Yugi's eyes, finally calmed of their anger, yet he shook his head. '_I cannot. It is the duty of those around you to relay the details_.'

'_But Mahado–!_'

'_Soulmaster, I will not. I cannot, not with the injuries currently plaguing you_.'

'_I can stand this pain!_'

'_I do not refer only to your physical wounds. You are marred internally with scars of magical strain, and even the state of your soul is fragile. Can you not feel the frailty of your magic? Even as you speak to me now, your internal voice is struggling to connect to mine_.'

'_I…_' Mahado's words struck true. Yugi was beginning to feel the drain communicating with the sorcerer entailed. It had never been so _much_ before. '_I can… handle it…_'

'_No, Soulmaster, you may not. You must rest, even if it is against your will_.' A touch of light shone at the end of Mahado's staff, and a heavy magic pulled on the back of Yugi's eyes.

His eyelids drooped suddenly. Fatigue seeped down into his bones, making him feel weighted. '_What did you do…?_'

'_I cast a sleeping spell. You need the time to recover physically, and to allow the weak spots in your magic to strengthen. It will also give time to your companions to let their emotions cool off_.'

"Darn it, Mahado…" he slurred, but he didn't have the will to fight it off. A few moments more and his eyes slid shut, and then his head fell back to the pillow. He was asleep in an instant.

No one moved for a moment. Mahado turned and looked pointedly at Ryou. Deep eyes narrowed, thinking, then suddenly understood.

"It's a sleep charm," he explained. "The Magician has bought us some time." The sorcerer nodded and gave a shallow bow. He then turned on Joey with swirling cosmos eyes, sneered, and vanished in a whirl of violet glimmers.

"What the _hell_ was that?" Not a moment was wasted before Tristan shoved Joey forcefully. "Are you freaking _nuts?_"

"Shut up, Tristan!"

"You just attacked Yugi for nothing! All because he didn't remember Slypher!"

"Tristan…" Téa warned, glancing at Yugi's still form.

"It's all right, Téa," said Ryou. "The spell will hold him asleep for some time. He won't wake up until the magic ends."

"How long do we have?" asked Mai.

"Several hours, I'd say, though once he recovers enough he'll be strong enough to start resisting it."

"That's several hours for _me_ to kick your face in!" Tristan hollered at Joey. "What the hell is wrong with you? Thinking that Slypher was still there, faking ignorance? Just how untrusting can you get?"

"Rrrr… Tristan!"

Now Tristan had a good grip on Joey's jacket collar and had driven him against the wall. "All you did was make it worse for him!"

"Listen to me, you idiot!" Joey roared back. "Let me talk! He said he didn't remember anything that happened! But we _saw_ him fight back: _Yugi_ fighting off Slypher! Now explain to me how the heck he can struggle free of a god's influence _without even knowing!_" Tristan hesitated. "Exactly. The only answer is that he's really Slypher!"

"Joey, you're being far too radical," eased Ryou. "For one thing, you've seen his eyes. They're purple again. Slypher's were yellow."

"He could just be hiding 'em!"

"That would take a large draft of energy," he answered. "Eyes reflect the nature of the soul behind them… It would take a great deal of magic for Slypher to conceal his eyes, enough that I would most likely be able to feel it.

"Another clue: look at the Orb." The dull red glass now hung from Joey's neck, far away from Yugi's reach, just in case. "The flame was extinguished with Slypher's banishment. His presence would have rekindled the fires within it."

"There's your answer, Joey," said Mai. "You heard Ryou say it's just not possible."

"B-But still," said Fizdis quietly, "it still doesn't explain why he doesn't remember."

The blonde nodded fervently. "Well, Ryou, is there an explanation for that, too?"

Ryou closed his eyes briefly, thinking back to the darkness, lightning, and pressing magic of the castle. "…There may be. Remember what Slypher said when we were trying to reach Yugi?"

The hissing words rose from the recesses of Téa's memory and her eyes widened. "He said that Yugi wasn't aware of his presence."

"Precisely so. Due to the nature of the summon, Yugi was caught completely unaware… and in that may lie the reason behind his memories of the event." Ryou folded his hands and brought them together at his chin. "If Yugi didn't know he had summoned Slypher… then he was essentially unconscious for the duration of his possession."

"Then how the hell did he fight back?" demanded Joey.

"The only way he could have," Ryou said bluntly. "Reflexively."

A shiver traversed the room. "No way…" murmured Mai. "He fought off a god on just a reflex?"

"The soul is keen to detect abnormalities. Like the body will fight off infections, the soul will fight off foreign powers and influences within it. All it took was a touch of transferred magic to help him realize there _was_ a foreign force."

"So then he really _doesn't_ know anything," said Fizdis, "and for him all he knows is waking up suddenly here without a clue."

"Yeah. Making it all the more painful to be hated by his own friend," said Tristan, loudly and pointedly addressing Joey. "You got on his case and he didn't know _anything!_ I still don't understand what went wrong in your head to make you think that you could–!"

Then Tristan stopped, for he saw on Joey's face a look of grief.

"Because," the blonde said quietly; there were definitely the beginnings of tears in his eyes. "_Because_ he doesn't know. He doesn't know anything."

His head snapped up suddenly and silver trails slid down his face. "How are we supposed to tell him? How do we tell him about the people he's killed? The blood he's shed? Death and destruction… all because of his summon… How are we supposed to tell him all of that?"

He looked sadly down at Yugi. "He's stuck like that. Stuck in a nightmare he doesn't even know occurred. And how do we leave him? With lies that hide the destruction from him, or with the truth that may do the same to him?"

The silence following Joey's words was interrupted only by the sounds of his tears. "We… We have time now," Ryou said gently. "We have time to sort through the story and decide what we will leave him with."

"We could go downstairs to the parlor," suggested Tristan, keeping his eyes guiltily away from Joey's. "More room to hash it out there; leave Yugi alone to his rest."

No one said another word, and silently they left the room.

* * *

Yugi's eyes fluttered open. Thick rays from the setting sun lit the whole wall opposite the window ablaze with charred gold. Apart from that the room was devoid of any soul. He laid motionless for a moment, unsure of what had happened, before his memory returned to him and he closed his eyes with a scowl. "I'm going to kill you, Mahado." 

Vibrations of chuckles tickled his heartstrings. _'Soulmaster, I am glad to hear it.'_

"I don't understand you, Mahado," Yugi muttered down to the gem around his neck. "You're acting as weird as everyone else."

_'With reason, Soulmaster: I am glad to witness the return of your strength.'_

"…Of which I _still_ do not know the reason for its absence," he grumbled, "a reason that I _almost_ learned before _you_ interrupted me."

_'My "interruption" was to your benefit, Soulmaster. Your physical strength was very low due to your injuries. Your body needed the time to heal. Were it not for your magical resiliency, you would still be asleep – you are still not fully recovered.'_

"I'm fine."

_'I can sense your mind's fatigue. I know you are still quite tired.'_

"I told you, I'm _fine_."

_'Are you? So it is not because you are too tired to focus your thoughts inward that you are speaking to me orally?'_

Yugi paused, frowning. "I could switch if I wanted to."

_'You mean to say that it is your choice to be overheard?'_

"'Overheard?' What…?" Yugi opened his eyes. Standing across the room from him, staring, was Téa.

"Téa!" he blurted. He tried to sit up but a heavy throb from his shoulder bade him do otherwise. "He… I… That looked awkward, didn't it?"

She nodded slowly. "Quite."

Yugi sighed and fell back onto the bed. "I'm not crazy," he mumbled into his pillow.

"I know," she said, moving forward to sit by his side. "You were talking to your Dark Magician, weren't you?"

His eyes widened. "How do you know about that?"

She gave a light laugh. "You could say we've met. He has a wonderful voice. It reminds me of yours."

At this, Yugi's bewilderment doubled, and Mahado, whom had been listening, burst into laughter at his confusion. "Stop that," Yugi muttered.

"Huh?"

"Not you," he explained. "Mahado won't stop laughing…" He shifted, but the motion put weight on his right arm and he hissed sharply.

"Oh! Don't move; you're still hurt." She held him down at the shoulder to prevent further movement and gripped his hand. The firm yet gentle pressure of her hand on his back repelled the pain in rolling waves. Yugi stayed frozen, breathing through his teeth until the stinging subsided.

"Thank you," he said once Téa released him.

"No problem. I'm just glad you're getting better." She looked down at him and felt an internal twinge of sadness at the way he lay stiffly to prevent further disturbance of his shoulder, yet clearly revealed in his eyes his frustration over his inability to move. "Do you want some help sitting up?"

Yugi blinked, not expecting to receive such an offer. "Ah… That would be appreciated." The back of his neck prickled when he felt Téa's cool hand on his arm.

"I'm going to try to hold your arm down so that it won't hurt. I'll need some help from your end though, okay?" Yugi nodded slowly. Using only his left arm, a task more difficult to carry out than it seemed, he gradually brought himself up from the bed that bore the stain of his blood and into the freer air. Téa shifted her weight over, careful to keep him steady, and through their combined efforts he was soon upright for the first time in three days. Yugi swayed slightly, blood clouding his vision as it poured back down to the rest of his body, yet after a few moments this passed and he became more alert to the room. He had not really taken it in, the dimensions of the room around him and the objects it held, not during the scene that had taken place hours before. Indeed, the world looked different from an upright angle than it had from a prostrate one.

He had no idea where they were. He could only assume they were in a town – a decently-sized one, given the room's furnishings, perhaps even the same one with the rose-tiled square, where everyone had been before the fight.

Maryah-Denn. Where Scott had been.

_Scott_. These thoughts came back to him with the swiftness of blades drawn against throats. He tensed, slightly, and felt the throbs of his injuries disagree distantly; he slid back onto the edge of his senses, still hardwired as for battle. There had been a confrontation between himself and Scott, a clashing of two dichotomic forces. This much he knew as fact. Then something had happened that wrenched his soul in half to witness… Téa was sitting beside him, so it was hard to recall it as being her death… and yet it had been.

This was all. Nothing else came to him. As far as he could feel, no time had passed – he still felt as though he was in the midst of an impending battle with Scott. His heart agreed, pumping a hot strength through his veins. All this, and yet there was no one to fight. No battle. Nothing but himself and Téa, alone in a gaping room with sunshine pouring over them, a void where time had decided to stop working on him and bring him back into a timeline he didn't understand.

Nearly a week had passed since the fight. The idea of _seven days_ leaving his memory numbed his simmering nerves. Part of him didn't want to know what had happened that would have such an effect on him, yet the way the others had avoided saying anything… purposefully, deliberately… worried him to the extent that he _knew_ it was his obligation to know.

Téa felt him stiffen through the grip she still held on his hand, and stirred her voice. "Are you all right?"

"I… Yes, it's just…" He sighed a bit, out of place against the mix of fatigue, ignorance, and heightened nerves jumbled in his head. "Everything and nothing. Everything in that not one of you has been spared the experience of this time, and nothing because I know of none of it." He laid a hand on his temple, only to retract it at the unfamiliar feel of cool scales against his skin. Eyeing the dull sheen of the light reflected on his hand, he let his voice drop off. "I just don't understand…"

Téa watched him as he spoke, watched as his lower lip expertly avoided the prick of slender fangs. A skill that he probably didn't even know he had – though one she knew well the origin of. She couldn't speak of it – not yet, not alone. "Here," she said, handing him an apple that had been the intent of her visit, forgotten until now. "Eat this. You must be starving."

"I'm not hungry," Yugi answered, and right on cue his stomach gave a terrible growl.

"You're a horrible liar, Yugi Mutou." She took his hand and put the apple in his palm. "Eat it. You need something in your stomach to settle your nerves."

"But–"

"I'm not going to let you leave this room until you've eaten the whole thing."

Yugi let out a sigh of defeat. She had seen right through him: that his real intent had been to leave the room and confront the others, particularly Joey, over what had happened. He couldn't ask it from Téa, not after the way the light in her eyes had dimmed when she heard him say he didn't know it. With a wary glance at her he took a bite. The semisweet juice was enough to counteract the lingering taste of stale iron in his mouth. With the first swallow he felt a little bit better, but then he saw the bite mark on the apple and sank at the sight of two deep channels carved into it.

"Hey." Téa gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. "Don't think about that right now." Already memories were creeping up on her about the poor girl from the ruined town of stone. She didn't want them to somehow leak over to Yugi and cause him more grief. "Just eat. We'll deal with everything else later." Yugi nodded distantly and continued.

When he finally finished, Téa smiled. "See? That wasn't so hard. Now," she stood and made for the nearby dresser, "I have something else for you to do."

"More?" he echoed. "Will I ever be free from your tyranny?"

She grinned, and inwardly was pleased. _He's making jokes… He's not_ too _bummed out by everything_. Téa found what she was looking for and pulled it out with a flourish. "We got this for you while you were asleep." She walked back over to the bedside holding a bundle of clothes. "We figured your jacket and shirt weren't salvageable."

Yugi glanced at his shoulder and eyed the charred edges of blue fabric still there. There might as well have been nothing left of his right sleeve, and the back was in shreds, torn through by broad wings. The black sleeveless shirt underneath it hadn't fared much better, with patches of its veneer marred by smoke and blood. "I would agree with you on that matter."

Téa sat by his side again, instructed him to lean forward, and reached behind his head. She took hold of the jacket collar, the only thing keeping it in one piece, and with an abrupt jerk ripped it in half. Yugi winced as he felt his loyal jacket fall cleanly from his shoulders. Téa did the same with what was left of the black shirt and came face to face with his back, and more appropriately his wings. She saw where the bones protruded from the skin, just to the inside of either shoulder blade, and where the thick leather stretched across them affixed to him. It unsettled her, for rather than the crimson scales stopping where Yugi began, they melded smoothly into him, scales melting into skin, swirls of color mixed with his own paler flesh. They were not separate parts, regular Yugi and dragon wings: they were together, Yugi _with_ wings, shaped inseparably as one.

"Téa?" Yugi's gentle voice jarred her loose from her thoughts. She had hesitated and he shifted uneasily.

"…Sorry. Here, hand me that shirt, will you?" Yugi picked it up and felt the heavy weight of metal in its folds. Téa took it and began explaining it to him. "We got you something that would work around your… um…" She didn't really want to say the word "wings" but Yugi got the message and nodded for her to continue. "It's already got holes in the back, don't worry about that… Here, take this and pull."

He gripped the material she held out to him, black leather that was thinner than he was used to, and pulled down. The shirt slipped over his head like a sandwich board, with a front and a back. It had a high collar similar to that of his old jacket with silver studs running around it. The front had a large steel ring secured to it with bands of stiff chestnut leather. Téa wove the back material around his wings and brought the edges forward to the front, where she fastened more leather straps to the ring, thus holding the shirt together. "There's more," she said before he could say anything, and grasped the other piece of fabric that lay beside her. It was an impossibly long piece of ebony linen, which she fastened to the ring and threw over his shoulders with a grand finish. "Tada."

"You're kidding." Yugi turned to scrutinize it. "A _cape?_" (3)

"A tad medieval, but yes." Téa's eyes were shining. "Joey insisted on adding the cape. He thought it suited you. What do you think?"

"Honestly?" He shifted a little to get the feel of the clothes. "I like it, but… don't you think it's a little over-dramatic?" he asked.

"Nonsense! The hero is always supposed to be dramatic," she declared. "Besides, I think you look stunning." This was no lie, for Téa truly did admire the way the crimson scales and black leather played with each other's light and harmonized in their sleekness.

"'Stunning?'"

Téa blushed. Had she really used that word? "Well, y-yeah." There was a silence between them after that.

Yugi let adrift his thoughts. "Where are the others?"

"The others?" He really was intent on getting out of the dark and finding out what happened, Téa realized. For someone like him, keen with strategies and knowing his opponents' moves, being ignorant was probably not a good feeling. Not even Téa and her niceties could sway him from his ultimate goal as she'd hoped. She wanted to give the others more time, or maybe she just wanted to keep Yugi from the truth for a bit longer.

"They're… downstairs," she answered, her eyes averted. "In the parlor."

Ember-lined eyes narrowed. "Maybe this time they'll have the decency to talk to me."

_Angry_, she noted, _and not just that. Hurt?_ "Yugi, Joey didn't mean what he said. You know him… the only thing faster than his words are his emotions. All the stress he was under built up and exploded on you because you were the one thing that could relieve it," she looked at him in earnest, "yet didn't."

"Because of my memory."

"Your _lack_ of memory, which wasn't your fault at all. You'll see."

"All I want is to know what happened… what caused you all such pain," he glanced over shoulder at red scales, "and what left me with this fate."

Téa nodded grimly. There was no use in avoiding it any longer. She stood up from the bed and turned to him, a hand extended. "Here. Let's go downstairs."

Yugi took it and she helped pull him to his feet. He wobbled a bit, for his legs hadn't been used in a few days, and he was unfamiliar with the new weight behind him. He was surprised at the way the wings pulled on him, almost with enough strength to upset his balance. He hadn't noticed it while sitting, but his tail was also considerably heavy, weighing down his spine with its thick muscles and solid bone tip. When he stood it had curled on its own, supporting itself enough to keep it off the ground, and Yugi shivered at the way its movement felt.

Téa watched him distantly as he became accustomed to his new form. She felt a touch of despair when he finally settled into a capable posture to accommodate the extra weight. It was the same pose Slypher had used, back arched and shoulders pulled back. "Come on. We'd better get down there. Ryou's been saying for awhile now that you'd be awake; I'm sure the others are expecting you." She kept his hand in hers and led him towards the door.

He paused, and she turned back to see what held him up. Yugi had his head turned, his gaze fixed on the wall beside them…

A mirror.

He watched his reflection, took in his appearance with sharp eyes and a sinking heart. He could almost pretend the version of him in the mirror was just that, an altered image, if it weren't for the fact that he could _feel_ everything. Most damaging to him, however, was the quick movement to view his eyes, after the others had despaired over them.

He saw inhuman eyes, staring from a completely different person.

"Come on," Téa urged, desperate to draw him from the sight of himself. "We need to get down there." Yugi turned and followed her as she led him down the stairs.

And after an eternity, heard the tale of thunderstorms and heaven.

* * *

Notes: 

(One) – In the game, many of the marshals have abilities. Téa has the ability to increase the rate of healing for teams that are in the same town as she is. Sort of an unintentional coincidence.

(Two) – Portions of this scene were written in November of 2004. It is the oldest scene of the whole story, excluding the first chapter or two, thus revealing how long I've had this idea.

(Three) – For those of you sharp on the uptake, I'm sure you realized that Yugi is now wearing his outfit from the Duelists of the Rose game. I've been waiting forever to get him in that outfit.

SC: MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE. This is your present. I will not say sorry for being so incredibly late with the chapter, because there is no excuse for it and you have a right to be mad at me.

All of my usual readers probably forgot me…

Please, please review, if you're still there.

PS – New longest chapter record: 14,365 words.


	17. Break Free

SC: Here's to hoping you guys are still there.

An announcement: By my calculations, this story will have a grand total of thirty chapters. That means we're only a bit above halfway. Sit back and buckle up; we'll both be here awhile.

"April Fools" has a lot to do with the theme of this chapter.

**Break Free**

_Barely escaping their pursuers, Yugi and friends decide to try to take the lightly defended fort Chelyumn. Surrounded by steep mountains, the small fort Chelyumn doesn't hold much strategic importance. But taking the fort is the only chance they have to break free of the Imperial forces surrounding them._

"Man," mumbled Tristan. "Of all the lame things I could be doing, lookout duty is the lamest."

It was midmorning and Tristan was tired, bored, and annoyed. He and Fizdis had been sent out to scout the area around town and out towards the mountains. There was an Imperial fort there, one that was currently occupied. Tristan didn't see the point in checking up on it. If the Imperials didn't know they were there, why would they attack?

"We must be careful," Shimon had told him before they left. "The Imperial soldiers there are ignored by the Empire. They will be itching to do battle to break from their castle fever. Their leader, Atensa, is a marshal, but a weak one. He was only given the post because of its strategic irrelevance. Formerly he was the High Mage of the Empire, a priest. It is unknown what magics he is capable of."

"Yeah, yeah," Tristan muttered to himself. He could care less about magic. That was Yugi and Ryou's thing. All he wanted was to go back to the inn and sleep. The others had stayed behind, lounging around, goofing off. The resistance hadn't pulled out of town yet because they wanted to make sure Yugi was back up to speed before they encountered any fighting.

"Stop grumbling," Fizdis said, her voice light like a bird's in the morning mist. "It's not that bad. We could be walking."

"Point," he said, patting Gazelle's neck. "I do appreciate the ride." Gazelle purred up at him, and Uraby rolled his eyes.

"Still," he went on, "I don't see the point in what we're doing out here."

"We're scouting the castle. I think we might take it, to use as a stronghold against Scott's army…"

"Where did you hear that?"

"The others were talking about it." She looked over at him. "You were asleep."

"Damn it…"

The mountains were visible now, peeking over the edge of the world. "The fort's somewhere up in there," said Fizdis.

"Now all we have to do it find it," agreed Tristan.

"You won't be finding nothing up there but trouble."

The voice had come from behind them. Immediately they turned to see a pair of Imperial soldiers jump down from an overhang of rock. They weren't like the Imperial soldiers he was used to seeing: they weren't wearing Imperial uniforms for one thing, save the head gear, and they looked rough, like they had been living in the mountains for years. "Just two of them," Tristan said to Fizdis slowly. "I think we can handle that."

"'Handle?' It's a fight we're after… We'll see how you handle that!"

Tristan jumped off of Gazelle just as he pounced at the first Imperial monster. The monsters they called were built like their owners: roughly hewn warriors and thick-skinned fiends scarred from mountain wear. Still, against Blackland Fire Dragon's breath and Megazowler's horns, they whimpered.

"Yeah! That's the way to roast 'em!" Fizdis's dinosaurs were enjoying this bout, a rare chance where the enemy was as rough-and-tough as they were. Watching their tails and heads and claws slam into the enemy was like watching bulldozers made of leather plow back and forth. Such attacks were destructive enough; but the Imperial monsters, hardened physically, had little resistance to attacks of flame or energy, and took great damage from Two-Headed King Rex and Machine King. For all their boasting, the Imperials were weak, scoring only a few minor hits in non-critical areas. Tristan was too concentrated on the battle to notice how terribly one-sided it was.

That's when the whole world became _off_.

He didn't notice it immediately. Then the feeling slowly came over him that things were not right. There was something… _wrong_ with his senses. Something had gotten into his nerves and was crawling along at a speed almost too slight to be noticed. He didn't know how to describe it. It was like a noise that he could hear, but not listen to; like a thing he could feel but not touch.

He was lost in trying to identify the sensation. He didn't notice one of the enemy monsters try to take a swing at him until he was inches away. "Whoa!" He ducked instinctively, and a good thing he had, for an instant later came a wave of fire from his Blackland Fire Dragon. The enemy monster went up in smoke and was gone. Tristan turned to see his dragon, to thank him – but there was something _wrong_ with him, too.

Blackland Fire Dragon had frozen, its jaw open and steaming, a giant frozen mass of muscle and scales. Tristan looked into its eyes and saw something there move. He must have been imagining things. It looked like his dragon's eyes had melted, pooling yellow, swirling into a strange emerald green. He gaped up at his monster, clueless as to what could be happening. Then his dragon looked at him, prostrate on the ground, and snarled.

"Good shot!" called Fizdis as King Rex incinerated one of the enemy monsters. She was happy with the ease at which this battle was proceeding, but her happiness faded when she looked on her monster. King Rex hadn't moved yet, and there was a motion somewhat like a shiver that ran up both its necks. Both heads turned, bearing jade eyes, glaring right at her with an emotion she had never seen there before, and smoke filled its mouths. Fizdis was frozen in fear as her dinosaur released its twin breaths of flame on her, yet thankfully Uraby pushed her quickly out of the way. She looked up to see Uraby's familiar, protective gaze… and saw only a hateful sneer.

She squeaked. "U-Uraby…" Megazowler appeared behind her, blocking her escape. It too was watching her like it wanted to eliminate her from the earth. She was surrounded by leering teeth and horns…

Panicked, she screamed, "Tristan!" but the threesome did not take kindly to that. Uraby lashed her in the side with his tail. She wheezed and was knocked outside of the ring. A split shadow hung over her and she scurried out of the way as a slash from King Rex raked the ground, narrowly missing her legs.

Tristan dodged Blackland Fire Dragon's bite by rolling under it. He scrambled quickly away and was met with a face full of forest scales. He collapsed from the tail-hit into the dirt. Stars clouded his inky vision. He heard Fizdis's scream but couldn't tell where she was. Heavy scales were over him; this was his end…

Golden light flashed before him, brighter than the light of day. For a moment he wondered if it were a divine presence before he realized that it was real, somewhere above him. He rolled over just in time to feel a rush of air against his skin, and opened his eyes just in time to see that his dragon was gone.

The field was empty.

"Fizdis!" he croaked. "Where are you?" He sat up and tried to figure out what had happened, where he was.

"I-I'm here," she answered, but her voice was so frail and injured he could barely hear it. She was stretched out on the ground much as he had been.

He dragged himself over to her, still not in his right mind enough to walk. "Are you hurt?"

"No." Tristan realized the reason her voice sounded so hurt was because she was crying. "They missed." Tristan looked around. All of their monsters were gone. No – his Machine King had fallen in the battle, his jewel somewhere in the field, that he remembered; and Gazelle was still there in the field with them, though the great beast looked dazed.

"We need to get back," Tristan said automatically. He pulled himself to his feet and had to practically do the same for Fizdis. She seemed to have lost the will to stand. "We have to tell the others what's happened here."

* * *

Early the next morning, Yugi slipped outside into the misty air. It was so early the sky was still dark, dotted with stars, but the coming dawn could still be felt as a stirring at the edges of the world. Everyone else was still asleep inside. This was preferable to Yugi: he hadn't been outside for days and he wanted the freedom of the chill air without the presence of people breathing all over him. After being cooped up in that small room for another two days, all of his injuries had finally healed, though the others had insisted that they stay one more night, just to be sure. 

He glanced passively at his surroundings. He had been right in guessing that the town was a modest one: a main road of packed dirt with wooden buildings running up and down the sides. The inn was the most elaborate structure within sight. He moved around behind the inn where there stood a small clump of cedar trees. He had seen this grove from a window above and knew he could make use of its cover for privacy. He breathed in the wet, piney air; the scent of a clean world. Mist drifted beneath the trees and frosted their boughs with silver-white.

Once he stood safely in the center of the trees he felt the warm tingle of magic in his heart. Mahado appeared opposite him hovering an inch or two above the loose soil. '_Soulmaster_,' he said, his voice stirring Yugi's heart and awakening him more effectively than any contact with the brisk air. '_You wished to speak_.'

'_Yes_.' His heart sank a little, not quite in sadness, but with a weak hope that was burning out like dying embers on a coal. '_I wanted to know… if maybe_…'

Mahado watched him patiently, knowing. Yugi couldn't avoid the impulse to look down at his hands. '_If you knew of a cure, a way to reverse what has happened_…' Mahado's eyes softened and he looked solemnly at him. He spoke with slow and deliberate words.

'_Soulmaster. There are many magics that I know. There are also many that I do not. What I know is that what has been done to you… Magic initiated the changes, but they were forged of your flesh and blood. They came into existence as part of you. Magic no longer touches them; they are naturalized to you… There are spells that could remove them, but it would be the same as removing a part of your body, an arm or a leg_.'

Then he spoke the words Yugi didn't want to hear: '_Soulmaster, they are permanent_.'

The edges of Yugi's eyes darkened. '…_Yes_.'

'_I am sorry_.'

Yugi's voice dimmed noticeably. '_The fault is not yours. Thank you, Mahado_.' Silence took him then. He was already lost deep in his thoughts.

_So I'm stuck like this…_ The weight of the new limbs behind him was suddenly greater and more burdening to his stance. He shifted, but they moved with him, bound to him by bone and blood. The realization that he was stuck as he was, as this dragonic human that Slypher had made him to be, evoked in him a despondency dark as the wet cedar bark around him. There was no going back to how he was before.

So were his thoughts, until he was distracted by the glow of a purple light around his neck. A swirl of young magic touched the air, and Mana appeared with her back turned to him, facing Mahado. She looked a tad disheveled and she rubbed her eyes.

'_Yawn… Good morning, teacher_,' she said sleepily.

'_Mana?_' both Yugi and Mahado asked as one. She hadn't come out of her gem since her arrival in the Maryah-Denn Fields, and her sudden appearance here startled them both.

'_You were asleep?_' asked Mahado.

Mana looked down at the ground. '_Eh heh heh_…'

'_Mana, don't tell me you've been asleep this whole time!_' he said exasperatedly.

'_I was tired!_' she countered. '_All that trouble it took to get here wore me out_…'

'_That is hardly the attitude that will make you a good sorcerer_.'

'_Teacher! It wasn't even for that long, it's not like I missed anything… Right, Yugi?_' She turned around to face him. It didn't take long for her eyes to go wide; she stared at him, sinking slowly in the air until her feet touched the ground.

Yugi smiled at her sadly. '…_Actually Mana, you missed a lot_.' The end of his tail curled forlornly.

For a moment she didn't move. '…_I… I'm sorry, teacher_,' she said, her voice serious. '_I won't let this happen again. Maybe I could have helped_.'

'_Indeed. Let this be a lesson to you, Mana_.'

Yugi looked away. '_It was a lesson for all of us_.'

The mist was starting to curl away as the sun moved closer to the boundary between night and day. Mahado and Mana returned to their gems and Yugi slipped back inside the inn, careful not to make any noise lest he be heard reentering. Fortunately the wooden floors held quiet for him as he climbed the stairs back to his room. Thus far there had been no incidence, yet as he walked through the doorframe he did it without thinking and caught his half-open wings on the rough-hewn wood.

"Kss!" His hiss of pain did not travel far in the corridor. With a hint of irritation in his eyes he angled his shoulders and stepped through sideways. That was one thing he had already discovered about his "additions": even though he had been given wings, he could not move them. He could feel contact with them just like any other part of his body (a sensation that still sent shivers down his spine), but otherwise they were stuck in half-furls, held rigid and partially open by ligaments drawn taut over the spindly bones. When Slypher had created them, he had not seen them through to completion. The muscles necessary to move them were not developed enough for even simple motion, let alone for the requirements of flight.

There was a thought. It struck Yugi then that he had never even considered the possibility of flying. Would he be able to hang against the backdrop of the skies with the support of his wings? Then again, would he ever want to? To take to the skies, to forego the land, would only be a further acceptance of his fate. He didn't want any part of anything that made him more like a dragon than he already was. The thought was quickly banished from his head. He didn't think he would ever get a chance to try it anyway, since his wings were held so rigidly in place that any attempt to force motion upon them was painful to him.

He didn't bother to sit and instead stood in the semi-darkness waiting for sunrise. Every few minutes he would take a few steps, pacing while he considered the day's plan. What had at first seemed like a straightforward objective now was as linear as a mountain trail. With its minimal defenses, taking the fort should have been as simple as walking right toward it, yet Tristan and Fizdis, as scouts and not invaders, had been attacked before they had gotten anywhere near it. Even then it should have been an easy fight – indeed they had been winning – that is, until their monsters turned on them. The result was a battle-harrowed Tristan and a distraught Fizdis, and four resistance monsters that had disappeared in the mountain air.

This was more than just a minor obstacle; this was boulders hurled onto the mountain path, rolling down towards them and roaring. Whatever had caused this betrayal of their monsters was dangerous, thought Yugi to himself with a steely resolution. He watched the sky lighten through the window on the distant wall and knew that whatever it was may yet return to strike again. The resistance needed to be prepared for such a turn of events in the future.

There came the sounds of stirring from the next room. Yugi turned around to start the grueling task of waking the others, already sighing to himself about the resistance Tristan would no doubt raise – and this time he remembered to tilt his shoulders at the door.

* * *

They were outside just as the sun was emerging fully into the sky, preparing their mounts for departure. Téa and Fizdis stood uneasily off to the side while the others worked, as they had no mounts of their own. Téa was thinking of the way she had seen Yugi when he first woke her up. In the semi-darkness of the room his eyes had been deep violet, almost indigo. His pupils were at their widest to allow the most light to come in, like ovals, and Téa had felt a touch of internal warmth at the sight of him looking more familiarly human. Her momentary joy hadn't lasted long, though, for when he stepped outside into the morning light they thinned again into dragon's eyes. Now she was mulling over this difference and watching him as he stood stroking Seiyaryu. She felt her heart lift at the sight of his smile, rarely seen in the past week. 

Seiyaryu purred at him fondly, giving him frequent nips of affection. "Hey," he said in his smooth voice. "I missed you." Seiyaryu nudged his arm in a reciprocated statement. The two had been separated for over a week, and the happiness of being reunited was warm like the soft sunlight on their faces.

Yugi was uplifted by the fact that his dragon didn't seem at all daunted by his new appearance. Even though they acted as if nothing had changed, Yugi had still sensed a distance from the rest of his friends. It wasn't a profound distance, just a wariness to get too close and nothing more, but it still reflected in his eyes as sadness. What little words that had been spoken to him had been of a strictly business nature: intelligence reports (from Shimon), orders to eat something or rest or squawks of "What are you doing out of bed?" (Téa), or just silence (everyone else). No one had come to ask him how he felt or even have a plain conversation with him (he was certainly bored to tears enough that a conversation about _anything_ would have been gracious). All in all, for the most part, he had been simply ignored.

The reservation was particularly strong with Joey. The blonde avoided all eye contact with him and steered away from anything that would require them to talk. Yugi hadn't even seen him in all the time they had been at the inn, after that day. He didn't like the anonymity between them, but he wasn't about to break it by walking over and saying something. Joey probably wouldn't even look at him if he spoke to him. Maybe he was still thinking of the scene a few days before, or maybe he still hadn't forgiven himself for causing it.

Yugi didn't pay any attention to the others when he announced it was time to leave. Seiyaryu bowed and allowed him to clamber on, a little less gracefully than usual. The rose colored dragon shifted under him, adjusting to the different feel of its rider. "I'm sorry," Yugi said down to it. "I'm not the best passenger for you anymore, I know." His tail was too long; it tangled with Seiyaryu's, and he knew this would interfere with its flight. He really should have been riding on a bigger dragon like Red-Eyes, but that was out of the question right now. Seiyaryu growled reassuringly up at him. It would manage.

The plan was to head back towards Fort Chelyumn. It was the general consensus that the Imperials that had attacked Tristan and Fizdis would be nearby, and that they would find their missing monsters there. Fizdis had been silent since the ordeal. The shock of Uraby and her other dinosaurs turning on her had devastated her. She sat behind Mai on Curse of Dragon with eyes like flat, unpolished stones. Once everyone (except Tristan) was in the air, Yugi flew to the front of the group to lead. There he could ignore the looks of uncertainty from everyone else. He had noticed the increase in stares from the others over the past few days, and it slipped ice cubes down his throat. The flight itself was uneventful and quiet. Yugi heard sounds of limited conversation behind him, but no one spoke to him. He didn't care. He had the secure feeling of Mahado and Mana in his heart, and the warmth of Seiyaryu's scales beneath him. They had been the only ones to not turn away from him. He didn't have any responses to anything they would say to him, anyway. For now he was content with listening to the wind in his ears.

They had traveled about half of the distance to their destination. The mountains were in view ahead, tall and pointed spires of rock, but here the land they crossed was flat grassland, dusky plants, and hard earth as far as the eye could see. The sound of the wind in the rippling grass and the swirls of dusty sunlight was almost hypnotic. They flew near an outcropping of rocks with a small tree standing nearby.

Yugi suddenly sat up straighter on Seiyaryu's back. Something in his nerves prickled like a sixth sense. His blood simmered; he felt the tides of battle woven in the air. Beneath him Seiyaryu had stiffened with the same awareness, which meant–

He jerked back on the reins and dug in his heels. Seiyaryu reared back, flapping high in the air, but it was enough. The burst of magic passed harmlessly under Seiyaryu's toes to dissipate beyond.

An outcry from somewhere behind him: "Imperials!" Like scuttling ants they appeared from the rocks below. There were at least five of them, lights dancing around them as they called monsters to the fore.

Undaunted even after being inactive for so long Yugi called, "Attack!" Seiyaryu roared, spilling a rain of silver fireballs onto the enemy below. Each hit its mark and created a sparkling fire on the rocks. Other resistance monsters were appearing to join the fray. Joey's warrior monsters charged across the field, weapons held high. They had almost reached the enemy when a violent red light engulfed them, catching them in their tracks. The light roiled with heat and burned the monsters it held.

Yugi drew in a breath at the sight. "A spell!" he cried. Now that he looked he recognized that many of the enemy monsters on the ground were of magic: sorcerers, witches, and idols. '_We're fighting Spellcasters!_'

Mahado stirred with great force. '_Brute strength alone is not enough to stand against spells; we must counter them!_' He and Mana appeared in blinding bursts of purple, staves held at the ready. Mana drew a clump of dark magic to the end of her staff and launched it down onto the monsters below while Mahado summoned a counterspell to free Joey's monsters. The red light shriveled and disappeared, leaving the two warriors steaming on the battlefield.

'_These aren't your average Spellcasters!_' cried Mana, deflecting a paralyzing blast that had targeted her, though she barely succeeded.

'_No_,' agreed Mahado, '_their methods are too indirect. These foes have been trained with spells designed specifically to undermine our efforts in battle, rather than damage us outright. They are stalling us_.'

Yugi wondered what could be done to combat such tactics, when Seiyaryu sighted an enemy witch, Mystical Sand, that was tormenting Gazelle and Parrot Dragon. It fired a blast that zoomed toward her mercilessly. Mystical Sand saw the attack coming with basalt eyes. Waving her hands through the air, she raised a shield and blocked the attack. Then, with a pulse of magic and a wicked laugh, the fireball was deflected, streaming right back toward Seiyaryu.

'_Soulmaster!_' Mahado warned.

Yugi paled and pressed his heels to Seiyaryu's side. The dragon tucked in its wings and dove under the blast. Just when they thought they had cleared the attack it curved in its path and followed them at an angle towards the ground. Even though it had been deflected, Seiyaryu's fireball was still using its homing powers to follow the pair. Yugi saw it over his shoulder and urged Seiyaryu to fly faster. "It's gaining!" he cried, seeing that the flames were quickly closing the gap between them, inches away from singeing the tip of his tail.

Mana appeared then, zooming along beside them. She turned and fired a blast of dusky magic that collided with the fireball, which hissed and fizzled out into dazzling smoke. Seiyaryu swooped against the ground and pulled back up level to her. Yugi looked to Mana appreciatively. '_Th-Thank you_.' She winked at him and zoomed off.

Yugi was about to steer Seiyaryu to rejoin the fight when his dragon dipped sharply beneath him. Seiyaryu was spiraling lower, dropping closer to the ground until it touched down. It hurried then to the cover of the tree. Yugi looked down at it incredulously. "What are you doing?"

Seiyaryu twisted its neck around to look back at him and growled hurriedly. Its sapphire eyes were pressing, urgent, and Yugi seemed to understand. "You're leaving me here? You're _keeping me out of the fight?_"

Seiyaryu growled again in a serious tone, eyes like rippling pond water. "What? It's not too dangerous!" The dragon jabbed its beak in the direction of his arm. "I'm not hurt anymore!" Yugi countered. "I can fight with you!"

His dragon would have none of it. Without warning it rolled over onto the ground, pink feathers stirring up dust. Yugi gave a startled yelp and fell off. Once free of passenger Seiyaryu took off quickly so that no resistance could be raised. Rubbing his back where he had hit the ground, Yugi looked up and watched it fly away. "Seiyaryu…" His own dragon had left him behind.

'_It is best, Soulmaster_,' said Mahado from somewhere far away in the battle. '_You should not partake in this fight_.'

'_I'm not worthless!_'

'_I did not say that you were, Soulmaster_.'

'_But you're treating me like it! You and everyone else!_' Yugi's heart pounded with anger and hurt. '_Are you afraid something bad will become of it?_'

There was a silence. '…_Soulmaster, I do not wish to see you injured. You nearly lost your life to the wounds you received prior. To see you in such pain… I could not stand to see you in that state again_.' Yugi felt the severity of Mahado's sadness, the pain of a too-strong memory.

He pulled back his anger then. '_I… I didn't mean it like that_.'

'_I understand_.' There was a pause between them. '_Soulmaster, there are strong spells being cast in this battle. I ask that you remain at a safe distance. It is impossible to predict what will happen with all this magic in the air_…'

Though he didn't want to, Yugi felt that he had no choice but to comply. '_All righ_t.' Mahado sent a feeling of gratitude and returned his concentration to the battle.

The battle was not going easily. The protective spells bending the air made it difficult for the resistance to land a hit on the enemy monsters with ranged attacks, and going up close was dangerous because of the ensnaring magic they so liked to employ. The resistance monsters were worn, tired from their constant, failing effort. It seemed to be the enemy's goal to wear them down gradually, and slowly but surely, they were succeeding. Joey was determined to hold strong in the face of such difficulty, to not give the enemy an inch to crawl forward.

"Let's take these jerks down a notch!" he yelled to his monsters. Using the small amount of magic he knew Giltia formed a protective screen of glitter around Flame Swordsman. It wouldn't hold off a full assault, but it would block a spell for a brief moment. Flame Swordsman raised his sword and instantly crackling fire surrounded it, hot with writhing orange. Targeting the nearest monster, a Dark Elf shooting crystal shards into the resistance ranks, the swordsman charged forward into a leap of assault. She didn't see the attack coming and shrieked when flames roared over her.

Then, as Joey watched the fiery blade hit, he felt it: the sensation Tristan had described earlier, tingling at the edges of his senses. Like the sound of a muted television, that barely audible hum of electricity that became harder to hear the moment one focused on hearing it; it was there, permeating the air, but Joey couldn't pinpoint the source of it. It was everywhere and yet so slight that he could almost attribute it to his imagination. The unwavering feeling persisted invisibly beneath the squalls of the battle.

Squalls which, all of a sudden, were dimming.

The battle had slowed inexplicably. Joey looked up, and still saw monsters clashing, yet for some reason felt a slump in the aggressions occurring around him. He couldn't think of a reason as to why, until he caught sight of his Red-Eyes. The towering black dragon was frozen, wings spread in half-furls over the battlefield, halted in its takeoff. Receding embers of a Black Fire Bullet curled out of its gaping jaw. His dragon had relinquished all prior actions and now stood motionless like a great ebony statue.

His was not alone. Mai's Curse of Dragon, screeching with a readied attack of flame, abruptly lost its rattling voice and sank in the air to settle on the ground. Kaiser Dragon released the coils holding a constricted enemy. Harpie's Pet Dragon's chain leash clanked on the hard earth as the beast pulled back from a grapple and bowed its head. Ruffled feathers on Parrot Dragon and Seiyaryu smoothed over and settled despite the presence of battle all around.

Yugi stood farther back from the main fight next to the tree. There was a stern caution radiating upon him from Mahado, and Mana as well: their worry held him at a distance from the battle. He watched the attacks with narrowed eyes, trying to pull from the situation a tactic that would hasten the outcome; yet as he watched he found he could draw nothing from the event before him. Every time he focused on an attack – a blaze of light, a swipe of claws – his focus would blur. He could not keep his eyes on a target: the forms of the Duel monsters and his friends kept slipping away, curling into smoky shadows. A hard buzz in his ear prevented him from thinking straight. The sound was dizzying, and numbing to his brain. It grew steadily louder and swelled to an intense frequency, so that everything in his body seemed to be vibrating along with it. He couldn't concentrate on the battle and lost sight of it beneath the oppressing sound.

'_Soulmaster!_' came the voice of Mahado, drawn taut with apprehension. '_You are unwell! What has happened?_'

Yugi fought to connect back. '_Can't you hear it?_' he asked desperately.

'_Soulmaster, I do not know what you speak of!_'

'_I don't hear anything!_' Mana agreed.

'_That sound! That awful sound_!' Yugi pressed his hands down over his ears. The sound had crossed the threshold from a numbing buzz to a painful wail. His balance was failing; he had fallen back against the tree to keep from falling over completely. Mahado said something to him frantically but he didn't hear: the shrill noise drowned out everything else. Sweat formed on his brow and he pressed his hands down harder; he didn't know how much longer he could stand it, vibrating in the core of his bones.

Joey watched the resistance dragons freeze up into giant statues. None of the enemy monsters were attacking them, but neither were they moving to combat the enemy. It was as though they weren't even there to influence the fight. This was serious news to Joey; he didn't think they could win without the help of their dragons, and he turned to Yugi with the hope that he would know what to do. "Yug'! Our dragons! There's something wrong with our…!" Joey's voice dropped off in an instant at the sight of Yugi leaning heavily on the tree behind him.

Crap. _Crap!_ "Yug'!" Joey ran to his side. He tried calling his name again, but drew nothing in response. Yugi had his ears covered and was shivering fiercely as if caught in arctic crosswinds. He practically yelled, and still Yugi did not seem to hear. Joey felt panic rising up into his lungs. He had seen this behavior before, when Yugi had been filled with the magic of death…

If this were magic again… Now was _really_ not a good time to have to deal with that.

"Rrr… Yugi! Listen to me! What's wrong?" Joey placed both hands on Yugi's shoulders and gripped them. Yugi's eyes snapped open at the contact, yet they kept flickering, overcome by the frequency and unable to focus on the person before him.

"J… Joey," he stammered after struggling to recognize his humming blonde hair.

"Yug', look at me! What's wrong?"

He winced and squeezed his eyes shut again. "_It hurts_… Joey, I can't… I can't hear anything… _Too loud_…!"

"What the hell are you talking about? What's too loud?" He gave Yugi a shake to urge him to continue.

"Ahgh! _That sound!_ Make it stop…!" He shuddered and hissed with pain. Joey was incredulous. What sound was Yugi talking about? He couldn't mean… Not that astral noise, barely there, on the wind? Joey couldn't hear it at all; he could hardly _feel_ anything at all, much less it be such an agonizing force to him. Then again… if it were a magical force, then to Yugi it really could have the strength to hurt him so.

Joey looked him head on. "Yug'! I'll find out what that noise is, I'll – "

Fierce roars crossed the battlefield, drawing Joey's attention. Energy returned to the fight: the resistance dragons had regained movement, but with a new shine of hatred in their eyes. Emerald glittered evilly from their irises as the great beasts turned, fire gathering in their mouths. Their attacks were not intended for the enemy. Flames gushed and roared, devouring resistance monsters in their wake. The dragons were attacking their own allies! Not only had their loyalties turned, but their aggression had also grown, converting them into wild beasts.

Joey watched his Red-Eyes howl with rage and tear across the field. Such ferocity that had arisen – Red-Eyes's long claws ripped through Flame Swordsman and drew thick gashes in the earth beneath him. The great dragon then roared savagely, blood dripping from his claws, before turning back to destruction. Joey felt his heart clench with both fear and despair, and there was still the problem of Yugi and his ravaging sound. A growl vibrated weakly in Yugi's throat: half of it human, expressing pain; half of it that rattling sound Joey feared so much. "No!" cried Joey, whirling back and seizing him tightly. "Yug'! Come on! Snap out of it!" Still he did not heed.

The dragons were wreaking havoc. The already weakened resistance monsters fell in droves, often dropping after only a single hit. Some of them held out against the onslaught: Mahado and Mana were expertly defending themselves from fire and fang, and Téa's fairy monsters were dodging attacks from the sky, though this was becoming harder to accomplish with Seiyaryu's silver fireballs chasing after them. The remaining enemy monsters had pulled back from the fight completely and simply watched the resistance fall to its own ranks.

_Bad, bad,_ bad, thought Joey, fire reflected in his eyes. The resistance wouldn't last another minute, and he didn't think Yugi could either…

A pulse of brilliant golden light flashed over Joey's shoulder on the battlefield. It was bright enough to effectively blind him even though he wasn't facing it. He heard roars, the roars of the resistance dragons, and the high sheen of intense energy. He turned to see the dragons outlined with shimmering gold that bathed the whole field with color. The remaining resistance monsters halted, blinded by the light. Joey locked eyes with his Red-Eyes, which had turned its head sharply to glare right at him. The evil emerald glimmer looked horribly out of place against the backdrop of dulled ruby irises. Red-Eyes hissed angrily at him and jerked his gaze away. The gold outlining them grew and another pulse of light blazed, sending a shock wave of wind to ripple the tall grass in all directions. In the next instant the field was clear. The dragons, and all of the Imperials along with them, had vanished.

Yugi exhaled loudly, all tension leaving his limbs. Joey turned back to him and held a grip on his shoulders, supporting him in his moment of weakness. "Yug'…?" he asked testily.

"Joey," he answered, opening his eyes partway to meet his gaze, "it's gone…"

"They're gone!" hollered a ragged Mai from several yards away. She stamped a heel to the ground and looked around for any sign of the enemy they had been fighting seconds prior. The vast field around them, except for the resistance members themselves and the few monsters that had survived the battle, was empty. "They just up and–!"

'_A teleportation spell_,' observed Mahado, now resting safely in his gem. '_One of the Imperial soldiers may have implemented it, although to transport so many would require strong reserves of magic, the likes of which I did not detect during the battle_...'

Téa then caught sight of Joey standing with Yugi beneath the tree. "Oh my goodness, Yugi!" She dashed over to the spot in an instant. The sight of Yugi looking so weary pained her, and she turned a fretful gaze to Joey. "Is he all right?"

"Yeah. I think he's okay now." Yugi nodded in confirmation, though he was still panting for breath. "Just a little shaken."

"What on earth happened?"

A shiver ran down Yugi's spine. "I…"

"Damn it! They ran away again!" Tristan asked loudly. He and Ryou were approaching the growing ring around the tree. "That's the second time they've run away; cowards! Those – hey, what's up over here?" he inquired upon seeing Yugi looking so weary.

"Ryou," Yugi said hoarsely when he saw the white-haired youth approach. He was surprised that Ryou didn't look as disheveled as he felt. "Didn't you hear it?"

Ryou looked at him oddly. "Hear what?"

"That… That awful sound…"

"Surely you heard it," said Joey. "This really loud noise was hurtin' Yug', but I didn't hear a thing." The others murmured their agreement, having heard nothing unusual during the fight. "It must be something magical if only he heard it."

He shook his head. "No, I didn't hear anything. Certainly nothing that would constitute 'really loud' and cause such pain…"

'_Nor did we_,' said Mahado. '_Magic does not seem to be the deciding factor here_.'

Yugi had shaken off most of the sound now, and stood free of Joey's support. "But if magic's not a factor, then why did only I hear it?"

Mana's heart twinged with concern. '_Yugi, what if it's not magic, but your…?_'

Tristan was standing a few feet away and staring out at the battle-ravaged field. "That's twice now we've started a fight and had our monsters go crazy."

"Hey, will you shut up about that for once?" snapped Joey. "We've got a different problem to deal with!"

Tristan ignored him. "Both times, it was only the dragons that went crazy. The second time, Yugi hears a sound that no one else can hear."

Téa followed him. "So you're suggesting…"

'_There isn't any other way_,' said Mana.

'_Yes_,' agreed Mahado. '_Soulmaster, this mystery sound is dragon-specific. It is imperceptible to others outside of this class_.'

Yugi paled, his eyes widening a little. "But… But I'm not a dragon!"

Tristan crossed his arms and looked him over. "You sort of are."

"Not all the way!"

"That may not matter," said Ryou. "You were the only one to hear it aside from our dragon monsters. You must be dragon enough to hear it." Yugi sighed in defeat. He didn't like the idea of being classified with the rest of the resistance dragons.

Shimon approached the gathering after having collected the gems of the fallen resistance monsters from the field. "It would appear as though we no longer control our own dragons."

"Yeah, but the question is who _does?_" asked Joey.

"The enemy?" supplied Téa.

"Yes, but _how_ they are doing it is more pressing," said Ryou.

Yugi looked down at the ground, eyes narrowed in thought. "It must have something to do with that sound I heard. If only dragons hear it, and our dragons were the only monsters to be affected, then the two must be connected." He looked up. "The sound might even be what's controlling them."

Ryou put a hand to his chin. "A sound that controls dragons…"

"If the sound controls dragons, then we're lucky Yug' didn't…" Joey trailed off apprehensively, but Ryou shook his head.

"If the sound is designed for dragons, it shouldn't affect Yugi. He's too human for it to work." An immediate relief eased the air around the tree.

Yugi agreed. "It didn't feel like magic… It just _hurt_."

Mai turned to them resolutely. "So someone else has our dragons now. That's not good. What if it's the enemy? They could be planning to use them against us."

"I'd say that's definitely what they're planning," said Yugi, slipping into his usual edge-of-battle seriousness. "If not, it won't take them long to think of it."

"What are we supposed to do then?" asked Téa worriedly.

"The only thing we can do," Yugi answered her. "We have to hit them first, before they have a chance to attack us. If we can surprise them, we may be able to overcome them long enough to find out how it is they're controlling our dragons, and find a way to break the spell. I'd say that's our only shot at getting them back." The others nodded to each other in agreement, but Joey kept his gaze stern.

"So we set out to find them." Tristan cracked his knuckles eagerly. "A chance to fight those cowards back!"

"One thing though," said Joey suddenly. His eyes were narrowed with precaution, almost suspicion. "I don't think Yugi should come with us." There came an immediate unified gasp, but Yugi didn't seem surprised by this statement.

"Are you crazy?" Tristan exclaimed. "A fight without Yugi is like… like…"

"I know. A gun without a bullet… or a dragon without its teeth." The blonde looked hard into Yugi's eyes. Seeing his denatured irises only doubled his resolve. "But I don't think it's a good idea. If we're fighting the enemy and they use our dragons against us, they'll use that sound again. Yugi will only get hurt when they do." There was more behind his words than just his rationale. He didn't like the plan Yugi had given, even though the others had already agreed to it. If he was going to follow it, he was going to do it without Yugi around. He couldn't stand the idea of following him around just yet.

"But…!"

Yugi held Joey's gaze. "I agree with Joey."

"What!" Tristan rounded on him, aghast. Joey too was surprised by this.

"No. I'm only a liability to you all. If that mystery sound comes back… I won't be of any help to you. Also…" He paused, a slight friction in his voice. "I don't want to take the chance… that I'm really not immune to it." He glanced at Téa and met her downtrodden gaze, but he couldn't stand the worry there for long and looked away. "I'll stay here with Fizdis. She can't stay here alone."

Joey nodded. "Right. We'll head out, and you two stay here. We'll come back when we've taken care of everything." How they were going to manage that seemed a forlorn hope, for everyone bar Téa had lost his or her most powerful monster to the enemy; Mai had even lost two. What monsters remained were already beaten and exhausted from battle. To hope for a victory now was the hope of a fool. Still, they carried the determination to fight their hardest and reclaim their stolen monsters.

They turned to leave then, intent to not waste any time. Yugi watched them go with narrowed eyes and sent a deft, calculated thought to Mahado. There came in reply sternness, then an understanding, and a touch of reinforcing magic. '_I see. I will do what I can to aid you, Soulmaster_.'

With a sigh he turned and made for the rock where Fizdis was poking her head out, smiling at the sight of her.

* * *

The two sat together on a flat stone a small distance away from the tree. It had taken Yugi a few moments before he could find a way to sit comfortably thanks to his tail. He wasn't used to dealing with an extra appendage, especially given its _location_: its tendency to get in the way of things became quickly apparent. The way it would move on its own continued to unsettle him, too. The end of it liked to wave back and forth as though lulled by a gentle wind. He still hadn't mastered control over the myriad of muscles his tail possessed, even though he had been practicing; but if he concentrated hard enough he could at least express minimal influence over its movements. 

Right now his tail was doing its usual, curling behind him, and he leaned back to rest against his hands. He looked up at the sky and noted, "It's a beautiful day today."

Fizdis murmured a faint agreement, and then quiet resumed. The air around them was peaceful, with just enough wind to flutter the ends of their hair. The temperature was comfortably warm without being too hot. There was a faint buzz in the air from the wispy insects undulating among the grasses. Fizdis glanced at Yugi, whom was watching the clouds above them, then looked away quickly. She had her hands clamped together uneasily on her lap, until finally she broke and said, "You didn't have to stay behind with me."

Yugi turned his gaze away from the clouds to look at her. His eyes shone warmly in the sunlight and he smiled. "Nonsense," he said. "I couldn't just leave you here alone. I imagine you'd get lonely pretty quickly out here." He waved at the expansive plain in front of them. "I wouldn't want to leave you unprotected, either, should any Imperials come this way."

The kindness radiating from the dark violet of his eyes evoked a smile on Fizdis's face as well. The fact that he actually _cared_ about her well-being warmed her heart greatly. She had thought that Yugi cared more about his other friends, those he had known since before joining the resistance, and that she was nothing more than an obligation to him. "Besides," he added, the warm light cooling slightly on his eyes, "I still stand by my earlier rationale for staying behind."

He was referring to the terrible sound that had incapacitated him during the battle. Fizdis had overheard the conversation with the others shortly afterward, though she could hardly imagine what such an awful noise could sound like. "Y-You don't think it actually _would_…?"

"I don't know." He sighed and turned back to face the sky again. "But I'd rather not risk it." Another period of extended silence followed.

"So… How do you think the others are doing?" asked Fizdis timidly. It had been nearly an hour since their departure. Inwardly Yugi was grateful for her conversation. Of all the resistance members, she was the one the least afraid of speaking to him.

"…It will be a difficult battle for them," Yugi answered truthfully. "But I don't think we have to worry about them too much. They'll stay strong, even though they'll have to fight our own monsters…" Fizdis sniffed slightly and he turned to see a bead of water collect in her eye.

"Like Uraby…" she said quietly, the tear slipping down her cheek.

"Hey." Yugi placed his hand on top of hers. "Don't worry. The others will win. They'll get Uraby and your other dinosaurs back."

There was a pause as Fizdis hesitated like she was holding something back. Then without warning she flung herself onto Yugi, gripping him in a tight hug. Yugi gasped in surprise; he remained frozen as she pressed her head against his shoulder. "I couldn't stop them from taking him…" she said desperately. "And now I can't even help get him back…!"

She sobbed, "I miss them…" The tears from her eyes were dripping onto Yugi's skin and running down his arm. She had crossed the line with this, Fizdis knew. Yugi had offered her solace and she had blown it out of proportion; she had even dared to cry all over him. She thought for sure that Yugi would shove her away… but he didn't. Instead he shifted closer and put his arm around her shoulder. Shocked, she looked up to see him gazing at her concernedly.

"It's all right," he soothed. His marble-smooth voice slid into her ears and slipped down to her stomach where it settled the hiccups of her tears. "I can see why you miss them so. They're good to you, and do so much to protect you. They're true companions."

He looked away at the horizon. "Like Seiyaryu…"

Fizdis pulled back, the edges of her eyes still wet, and looked at him. "You miss your dragon, too…" She saw the pained sadness swirling in Yugi's eyes, but when he spoke to her his voice was steady in tone.

"We'll see them again soon…"

* * *

Walking on foot towards a battle known to be lost was disheartening enough to keep them silent even without the pressing thoughts on their minds. By now the grass had thinned to lesser plants and open ground as they neared the mountains. Their destination was still a distant block set into the rocky face of the mountain, far away from where they stood. The sight of their target only worsened their dread. 

At the head of the group, Joey suddenly stopped walking, his eyes slightly narrowed, a buzzing color mixed with the usual brown. The others stopped curiously behind him.

"Joey?" Mai tested. The wind swept through his hair and stirred his jacket tail.

"I don't like this," he said finally. His voice was open and opaque like the rocks surrounding them.

"None of us like this, Joey. We're walking into our own doom."

"No. Not that. I don't like that we left them back there alone."

"Yugi and Fizdis?"

"Yeah."

"They're fine where they are, Joey," said Ryou gently. "They're safer there than they are with us."

Joey shook his head. "I don't know. It's been bothering me ever since we left. Eatin' at me. I just have this feeling…"

"What do you mean?" asked Tristan.

"Joey, I think you're just overreacting," said Mai.

"I don't know what it is, okay? I've just got this feeling… that maybe they're in more danger than we are…" he trailed off after having finally voiced his worry.

"In danger?" Mai echoed. "How?"

"Look, it's just a feeling, all right?"

"The sound," said Téa quietly, her eyes quickly misting.

"You mean the one Yugi heard?" Tristan rounded on her but she already had her gaze averted.

Mai's face tinted a shade lighter. "You don't think it would come back, do you?"

"There's always a chance that it could," Ryou said with much the same realization rising on his face.

"Damn it! I don't know what to think!" Joey hollered. "We're this close to the base but we haven't been attacked; that makes me think the enemy's back there–!"

"We have to go back," Téa said detachedly. "We have to make sure."

"I'm with Téa," said Tristan.

Joey turned on his heals. "Damn it! If he's hurt I'll kill those Imperials!" He took off sprinting back towards the grassland.

* * *

Fizdis had recovered from her tears and now sat quietly, although Yugi continued to keep her hand in his to assure her calm. The slight breeze had died off, leaving the world around them still. The buzz of insects in the fields was a faint and distant drone settling into the earth. He sat watching the flurries of heat dance above the grass with an internal sigh. The continual stillness, the quiet, was unsettling; he could hardly stand the nothing and his anxiousness was expressed in his curling tail. 

The eeriness of the setting then struck him. It was too quiet, too serene. Something about it was subtly off to him, as though it was by someone's hand that the world should lay so still. The end of his tail gave a flick and he felt a jangling against his scales. It was faint, but he could still sense it as the undeniable wisps of magic in the air.

He squeezed Fizdis's hand a little tighter. She looked at him concernedly as he let go of her hand and slowly stood up from the rock. There was _magic_ in the air around them. Yugi's eyes narrowed sharply, for the unknown stirrings carried a taste of sinister intent. Despite its faintness it was uniformly spread around him, with no apparent source. _Where was it?_

The ground.

He felt it and realized its source just as the ground beneath his feet roared.

The ground shuddered and pinched itself in a bind. It rumbled like the heart of a storm cloud in a black roiling sky. An earthquake! The soil heaved, a twisting mass of dust and rock in the air, and as Yugi stood through the shock he watched it curl in around Fizdis. Though the dusky smoke now became visible the forms of gnarled vines: the thick roots of the tree beyond rising up in anger. They rose up around her and tightened, gripping her in an inescapable hold. She cried, "Yugi, help!"

Yugi did not hesitate – yet the ground beneath his feet then split, and more roots issued forth, shooting straight up at him. They had already looped around his legs before he even had voiced his surprise. He tried to make use of his tail and slash at the roots with the blade tip, but they were too quick for him and seized their would-be attacker before he could direct the intended movement. The roots snaked their way up him and squeezed, constricting his arms and pressing his wings painfully into his back. The last coil stopped dangerously close to his neck and curled gingerly.

At last, complete in their objective, the roots and earth fell still around them. Yugi struggled against them, but their woody grip held true and proved too tight to seek escape. He looked at Fizdis on the ground across from him. She was tied up in much the same way, with no chance of getting free. Yugi was bound by nearly twice the amount of vines that she was. Whoever had initiated this capture had made sure to keep him properly restrained.

His head jerked up at the sound of deep growling nearby. He spied then through the dissipating dust the image of a black dragon. It stood tall on its sinewy back legs and growled with the throat of an alligator, leathery and coarse. Bleached ivory horns stood in clusters at the back of its head, and its teeth… Yugi hadn't seen such teeth on any dragon before; they veered directly out of its jaw, with no lip to hide them, in a shape that sufficiently matched the layout of a beaver's and made them perfect for gnawing on anything the size of a tree trunk or better. The beast was staring at them with glinting emerald eyes that even in the warm air were frosted.

Yugi's breath came sharply. "A controlled dragon…"

A voice answered him: "Quick to see it. Maybe this _is_ worth my effort."

A man stepped into view beside the black dragon. He wore the garb of an Imperial officer, with robes that pooled at his feet and the shine of bluish steel on his helmet. He was tall, but thin beneath the folds of fabric; the armor he wore did not suit him. Indeed, Yugi noted that this officer looked different than most of the others he had faced, for his robes made him look less like a commander of troops and more like some sort of priest. He could sense around this man a thick aura of magic, stifling and purposefully released as if a ploy of intimidation. It stuck in the back of his throat like dried cotton; it was nothing at all like the smooth, controlled power that Mahado emitted.

Yugi was quick to interrogate him. "Who are you?"

The man turned to face him fully. "I am the High Mage Atensa, chief overseer of the Empire's magics," he answered, his voice sounding brassy, full of confidence. "No need to introduce yourself. I'm well aware of _your_ identity. You are the leader of the resistance." Atensa stepped closer and stood in front of Yugi, looking him over. "Yes, you are he… I can tell by the look of fire in your eyes."

Indeed Yugi's eyes were fiery, fueled by the mention of the Empire. Anger now simmering in his system, his pupils narrowed, making him look more dragonic. Antensa said more casually, "You've done quite a number on the Empire, you know. You've felled every form of high command you've faced. Quite an impressive feat. Now you've left me to do their jobs."

"Why serve the Empire?" Yugi demanded. "Your Emperor is dead!"

"I'm well aware of that," Atensa replied, "but the _new_ Emperor is a far more capable man than our previous. His power is far greater than anything that weak Haysheen possessed. Now I serve the new Emperor… Emperor Scott!"

At the mention of his enemy's name Yugi hissed with spite. Scott had used his power to take the position of Emperor in this world and in doing so and now commanded all of the Imperial troops and monsters. He had claimed control of the entire continent, and in his head Yugi could see that wretched smirk, those abyss eyes leering with unwavering power. He would throw the entire resources of the continent against them in his campaign. "Scott has become Emperor? To what end?"

Atensa gave only the vague reply: "It matters not." He turned his back to Yugi and took a few paces towards Fizdis. Her eyes were wide and she shivered as she looked back and forth between the hulking dragon and the towering man before her. Atensa hummed at the sight of her fear. "Emperor Scott will reward me greatly for my actions today. I have succeeded where my fellows have failed: here, I have overturned the resistance and captured their leader."

"My capture alone will not be our undoing!"

"Oh?" He turned back with a superior smirk and a knowing glint in his eyes. His voice was deliberate as he said, "_What about the betrayal of your dragons?_"

The glimmer of light in the black dragon's eyes now shone on revelation. "It was you," Yugi realized aloud. "You're the one that turned our dragons against us!"

Atensa grinned wickedly. "Wonderful, isn't it? I am the sole commander of your once-monsters now. I am their master and they obey me without question or will…" He gestured to the black beast behind him. "A Black Dragon Jungle King, an earth dragon, ruler of the forests and guardian of the forests, destroyer of those who would invade his realm. A dragon capable of bending all forces of the jungle to his will." He motioned then to the roots entangling the pair in front of him. (1) "You know that firsthand."

While he had been talking Yugi had been struggling again, but the roots were like hardened cement, molded against his form. "You would corrupt such a noble guardian for your own gain?" Yugi asked, his anger rising further. Even his scales seemed to shimmer with hate. "You are as black-hearted as any of the Empire's spawn."

Atensa laughed at these words. "So valiant: a hero's eloquence. For all your cries of anger, your words go unheeded. I am beyond what any of the other Imperial drones are. I possess magical skill that they could never command… and I alone possess the knowledge to control dragons…"

He touched a gem around his neck, half-hidden by the many folds of fabric. A spark of light gleamed, and an idol-like statue appeared, floating in the air beside Atensa, staring forever forward with its one eye and holding a long flute in its hands. Yugi saw this monster and recognized it immediately, for he had faced it once before in a fight with the distant Pegasus. His face paling slightly at the sight of it, he swallowed and said, "A Dragon Piper."

He should have foreseen it. Everything made sense now. The Dragon Piper controlled dragon monsters with the sound of its flute, and in the game the effect was used to turn dragon monsters against their owners. Its sound only penetrated a dragon's ears, which explained why Yugi, dragonic as he was, had heard it. Atensa's smirk broadened with the recognition of his monster.

"Yes. With this monster by my side, I can control any dragon… and no one will be able to touch me in battle." He stepped forward and stood directly in front of Yugi. "Which brings me here to claim the final piece."

He traced a thin finger along the edge of Yugi's chin. Yugi growled and snapped at it, but Atensa pulled it out of harm's way. "I watched the battle that took place here prior. I know that you can hear my song."

Yugi snarled, fangs salient in the light. "Its spell does not affect me!"

Atensa chuckled at his vicious reaction. "Yes, I know. You are too human to suffer its full effects. It merely hurts you, without subjecting you to any of its will-bending magic. I have planned a way around that. You display bits of a dragon's nature within your own, even if you are not consciously aware of it…" He eyed the pearly fangs leering at him. "I contend that if subjected to enough pain those bits would flare stronger, and even you as a human would then become vulnerable…"

In being vulnerable, Yugi would then become the equivalent of the last resistance dragon, and be stolen the same way the others had been. Fizdis realized this and cried out. "No! You can't!" Atensa was planning to torture Yugi into submission! She couldn't let that happen: she squirmed in the roots, trying desperately to twist free, to save Yugi!

Atensa ignored her, and Yugi felt him exude a wave of magic toward the Dragon Piper. The monster raised its flute to rest precariously on its bottom lip. "I won't give in to you," Yugi growled darkly. Recalcitrant as he tried to keep his face, he felt remnants of a buzzing fear rising up in him quickly.

"Then we'll see just how long you can hold out."

A pulse of dense magic, directed at the Dragon Piper, sent static tremors through Yugi's nerves. There was a breathless moment as the floating monster tightened its grip and began to play.

Instantly the sound began anew. It started softly, that low, irritating din, then rose quickly up into its most intense frequency and lashed against Yugi's ears with the force of a wave smashing into a rocky coast. This time it peaked much faster than it had in the battle: it caught Yugi unprepared and evoked from him a cry of surprised pain.

Even though she heard nothing, Fizdis felt the imagined sound in her head and shuddered. "Yugi!"

Yugi grit his teeth then and pulled his expression taut. Though his eyes were clenched shut and he was applying so much pressure to his jaw he thought it might crunch, he kept the true amount of pain he was feeling invisible beneath his steely resolve. He worked hard to restrain the shivers and draw in any outward sign of affliction. He held stiff in the vines, quivering slightly at the edges but otherwise solid in demeanor.

Atensa frowned at his effort. Resistance from Yugi was to be expected, due to the fact that the magic wasn't formatted to him, but the amount he was now showing displeased him. The sound of the flute wasn't pulling its effect over him, even though the air was filled with the vibrations of the spell. The magic wasn't even touching him; what he suffered came only from the sound itself and not the spell behind it.

He commanded the Dragon Piper to stop playing and the sound abruptly cut off. Yugi let out a gasp of air and released his rigid posture. His skin tingled with remote numbness due to the ringing in his ears. He opened his eyes and looked across at Fizdis. She saw the fatigue in his eyes, the amount of will it had taken to hold silent, and saw the drain of vitality there. He never changed his expression: he just looked straight at her, panting for breath. Something flickered in his eyes that she didn't recognize, like a touch of truth that no one, apart from himself, knew.

_This will not do_, thought Atensa to himself. The current method for subduing  
Yugi was much too slow. He needed to try a new avenue. Although not a commonly known fact, the Dragon Piper possessed songs that produced effects other than simply dominating a dragon's will. It could stop dragons in their tracks by putting them to sleep, slow them down to incredibly sluggish speeds, or, Atensa realized with a rising smirk, inflict upon them a terrible agony that struck every organ of the body. Yes, he would invoke a pain so fierce that not even the mighty resistance leader could stave it off for long.

Yugi read Atensa's expression and narrowed his eyes defiantly. He didn't speak, but the emotion was clear in his countenance. "Oh no, don't think that you can hold out on this one," said Atensa darkly. "I'll bring you to submission yet…"

Again the Dragon Piper started playing, but this time the sound was different. Rather than rising up in a high-pitched wail, the sound stayed lower, a strong, steady rumble that warped the air. Like its predecessor the sound vibrated with just the right frequency to make Yugi's whole body resonate down to his core. Yugi held his breath cautiously. There was no pain coming from the sound, but the look on Atensa's face steadily increased his worry –

It struck him full force. In an instant the sound exploded inside him. Jagged claws on the ends of gnarled hands seized all of his muscles and pulled on both ends, drawing them tight. He jerked as his whole frame went livid; for a moment he couldn't breathe and felt the sweltering panic of being airless. It was then that the sound's true pain was ushered in. While his muscles were already being stretched to the limit in both directions, he felt as though something was pulling at the middle, like a finger plucking a giant guitar string. When the string didn't vibrate the finger would pull harder, then harder, stretching and tearing muscle free from bone…

His voice broke free from his restricted throat. "_Ahgh!_" He tried to regain his composure, his mien of resistance, but the sound was _inside_ him, ravaging everything! He struggled at the roots still grasping him and felt a greater tightness inside: to move was to incite agony, and to remain motionless was much worse. The groaning sound pressed in on his heart, squishing it flat so that every beat forced blood through veins stretched too thin to accommodate it and resulted in a feeling like sand being driven through him to erode away his insides. He could hardly breathe; his lungs could not draw in sufficient air and what little was obtained was immediately expelled in his cries of agony.

Fizdis felt a wave of salt strike the back of her eyes with the sound of his pain but she could not force herself to look away. "Yugi!" she hollered. "Don't listen to it!" By talking to him she hoped to draw him away from his plague, to ground him. "Please! You must stay strong! You can't listen!"

Though his ears were barely functioning, Yugi heard her. He didn't hear her words, but the sound of her voice broke through and, sensing her intentions, he cried out to her hoarsely. "Fizdis! _Ahgh!_ It's too loud… _Aah!_ I-I… SHREEAALH!"

The last of his words tightened without warning into a screech. Fizdis flinched at the unnatural sound, a sound of pain. Atensa's expression changed when he heard this to a look of anticipation. "My theory was correct," he said. "With pain you do revert." Swiftly he appeared in front of Yugi and seized a rough grip on his chin. "Keep listening, dragon. You'll give in soon enough."

"Let go of him!" yelled Fizdis. "Stop torturing him!"

Atensa didn't even look at her. "Don't be naïve, girl. This one in his adamancy will yet be mine."

Yugi couldn't draw in his voice. It kept escaping him, thrust out as every bone in his body was stripped bare of its sinew. His throat was tight, clenched like a vise, restricting the air forced up through it into the screeches Atensa so desired. His mind was cold, filled only with the acute awareness of his pain and bereft of any thought that would help the situation. He knew only that should the sound not let up, he would not make it. This thought did not seem to grace Atensa's mind as he watched Yugi's struggle hungrily. He still believed that Yugi would be overcome. The idea of destroying his target before he had a chance to succeed in his goal was alien to him.

Only a watery exclamation from the strained voice of Fizdis seemed to bring this to his attention. "Please stop! _You'll kill him!_"

…The girl was right. Atensa released his hold on Yugi's face and issued a quick command to the Dragon Piper to stop. Yugi shuddered as all of his muscles were released from the ragged grip that held them and allowed to relax. He gasped for breath, caught in a daze that consisted of nothing but pumping his heart and lungs. His pupils were thin. The eyes behind them were dull. His ears were ringing and he didn't hear Fizdis's frantic calls to his health.

Atensa watched, and stirred a frown: he needed to act _now_, while Yugi still showed a dragon's pain, before he could recover. Again there was a swift command sent to the Dragon Piper to begin anew his will-bending song. The high-pitched wail returned and caught Yugi between breaths, causing him to choke on the air. Not again; not now, so soon after being torn–!

It held him. It burrowed into him and lodged into his bones and resonated cleanly there, filling his whole being with the sound. It twisted rusted nails into his skull, piercing his conscious more deeply than it ever had before. The sound _hurt_ more than it had previously, rattling the already flayed edges of his muscles. Atensa watched the pain overtake his captive; surely now the magic would affect him, draw in his weakened will. What he didn't know was that still the magic was failing, unable to bridge the gap from dragon ears to a human mind.

This was Yugi's limit; another swell from the insane sound and he would break into a limp mass of bone and bleeding eardrums. He could scarcely feel the rattle of his throat as he let loose another screech. His ears had long since stopped functioning, deaf to everything except the penetrating powers of the sound. With the last amount of conscious that wasn't completely ravaged by the sound he clawed inward, searching for that frail trace of magic Mahado was no doubt holding out to him, scouring his heart to find that pinprick–

There! He grasped the thread of magic and eased slightly on the inside, knowing the relief that would soon come with it–

But the sound reached a crest and crescendoed into a lance that through its resonance in him attacked his heart with its blade. It sliced through his heartstrings, abruptly ending what little contact with Mahado he had. Yugi gave a terrible jerk, feeling the magical repercussions of this action all the way up in his brain. An insane numbness – black, blind, couldn't see – and then that was it. With not so much as a word he slumped in the roots' grip, head slack to the side.

Fizdis let out a gasp of horror. "_Yugi, no!_" Tears poured out of her eyes, but Yugi didn't answer, didn't budge. Atensa motioned for the Dragon Piper to stop playing. He stepped in front of his captive in scrutiny. Had the magic finally succeeded? Yugi appeared to have passed out from the pain. Atensa scrutinized his aura (startled at its strength even while unconscious) and found that there was no air of resistance. Just solid magic, a listless field, set on autopilot.

Fizdis tried to see Yugi but Atensa barred her view. Atensa watched Yugi sternly and held his aura strong. There was a prolonged moment of stillness, during which he judged Yugi's aura until he finally came to a decision. He tipped his head back in a laugh. "It is a success!" he declared. To the Black Dragon Jungle King he issued the command of, "Release him." The vines twisted away, curling back under the earth, leaving Yugi to stand alone. The Black Dragon Jungle King caught him against his shoulder before he fell. Yugi's head was angled down so that his eyes remained hidden behind the shadows of his bangs.

"Surely it is not that simple, though," murmured Atensa to himself suddenly. "To have resisted for so long, there must be a catch to such a quick submission." He looked hard at Yugi. "We will see about that later."

Fizdis saw the black dragon's claws close around him in a captive grip, and trembled weakly. "No…"

Atensa turned to Fizdis with a smirk on his face. "Leave her," he said to the black dragon, whom had been eyeing her and shifting its jaw. "We need someone alive to bear witness to the other rebels."

Fizdis showed confusion at this, and he explained, "I was originally going to take the rebel dragons and escape with them, so that Emperor Scott himself could finish you off in a glorious moment of destruction… but it would be so much more painful to be destroyed by your own dragons and your _leader_." He came closer and stood beside Yugi. "When the others return from their fruitless battle they will find you and know that I have succeeded in taking their last dragon…"

Atensa brought his hand up in front of him, and a touch of gold encased his fingertips. "You'll know where to find me," he said, "at the fort of Chelyumn you so desperately wanted to take." Gold light gleamed and surrounded Atensa and his two servant monsters. It swirled up around Yugi too, and with a dismissive wave of his hand Atensa completed the teleportation spell and all of them vanished in a blast of light. Fizdis looked away, felt the cold burst of wind on her face, and heard silence. When she turned back the ground was empty.

Tears drying on her face, she looked up at the sky in despair.

* * *

_Damn it!_ swore Joey in his mind. _The closer we get the bigger my bad feeling's getting…_

The outcropping of rocks was visible as a swelling lump in the distance. Joey's heart drew in more tightly with each gasp for breath, with each pump of fearful blood. A few more seconds and they would be able to see Yugi and Fizdis safe, untouched, and right where they left them… or at least Joey kept telling himself this.

There! He could see the place where they left them…

…and even from a distance could feel the barren wind blow through, circling the place where Fizdis was trapped by twisted vines, and driving into him the painful fact that Yugi wasn't with her at all.

_DAMN!_

"Holy-! Fizdis!" cried Tristan, for he had seen her too. They reached her and he and Ryou immediately began pulling the roots off of her. "What the hell happened?"

Fizdis's eyes were listless, staring at the sundered ground. She didn't react to the two boys attempting to break the bonds holding her. "The mage Shimon warned us about," she said quietly. "Atensa…"

"What happened?"

At last they pulled her free, yet she remained where she was, wreathed by the torn curls of the roots. "He played the sound that only dragons hear…"

"Damn it!" Joey swore.

"He tortured Yugi with it, and took him…"

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Anger and tumult were pounding through Joey's frame, such that his innards were completely bathed in their color. This was _his_ fault. Because of him, Yugi had been put in danger under the illusion of safety. And why? Because he had been stupid enough to think that separating was a good idea. His pride hadn't let him stay near the friend he had so injured… the friend that he had mistrusted, out of fear of his difference, fear that his transformation had left him somehow different from before. Now… he had failed in trying to protect his best friend. He could not, _would_ not forgive himself for that.

Nor could he forgive that conniving Imperial _bastard_.

"_You are DEAD, Atensa!_"

* * *

Joey ran towards Fort Chelyumn with all the speed he could muster. He was exhausted from all the exertion; his head was swimming with fatigue, a shortage of oxygen, and his thoughts. He swore to himself that here he would right all his wrong actions: letting their dragons be taken, splitting up the team. 

Being a jerk toward Yugi.

As he ran, he wasn't even sure if the others were behind him or not. He might have left them in the dust. He couldn't pause to look back, for if he did he knew he would not get himself to start running again. The landscape ran with him, the hills equal in his speed, the grass falling behind as the plains opened to dirt, then scabbed over with rocks. Here rose the mountain from its resting place at the edge of the world, just in time to feel the light of day on its face as evening rapidly approached. Joey was so preoccupied with everything that he hadn't noticed that no one had appeared to stop him from reaching his destination. He didn't have time to think that maybe the Imperials wanted him to approach their lair.

Joey had reached the base of the mountain where the path leading up to the fort began when he realized he could go no further. He collapsed against a boulder, leaning heavily on it as he huffed for breath. The nerves in his legs sizzled with heat and pain. The stitch in his side had been sewn so tightly he wasn't sure if he would ever stand up straight again. He gasped for air and stared up at the mountain face, cursing his weakness. He had to make it up there…

"Hey rock head! Slow down!" Tristan was yelling at him while trying, and failing, to look dignified as he ran. Everyone else was with him gasping and wheezing for breath. He had summoned Gazelle to carry the girls, though it too looked exhausted from having to bear their weight for so long. Tristan half stumbled and half stopped to rest against the boulder next to Joey. "You – rock – head," he repeated between breaths.

"Hey, shut up!" said Joey, breathing just as heavily. "Or I'll slug ya' a good one right in the–"

He didn't have time to finish his threat. The ground started rumbling, groaning like a beast mad with hunger deep within its cave. Everyone froze except for Fizdis, whom immediately started hollering, "No! We have to move, before–"

_KRRNGH!_

The ground burst open and roots shot out, flailing for their prey. The boulder upon which Joey and Tristan had been leaning cracked and blew apart as more roots forced their way out. Tristan tried to punch one back; yelped as it seized his arm. The slithering, squeezing vines were engulfing everyone; they were grabbed, constricted, and lifted into the air. Gazelle was seized and squished mercilessly until it suffocated and vanished into its jewel.

Joey felt the roots curl around him more tightly, digging their roughest parts into his exposed skin. He struggled against them but couldn't break free from where they held him high above the ground. Suddenly gold light blazed across the clearing, halting the roots' movement, and he snapped his head to see a man appear from the blast. He knew the identity of this man. "Atensa!" he roared.

"Come now, is that any way to greet me?" he said snidely. "I've been taking such good care of your friends, after all." He waved his hands and a myriad of gold lights burst behind him, like yellow roses opening with the snap of winds in a sail. There stood the resistance dragons, with leering emeralds in their skulls, as well as countless other dragons that were foreign to him, others who had been ensnared into the Imperial force against their will. Joey saw among them Seiyaryu, Yugi's dragon. He felt that the forced evil in its eyes was the most gut wrenching of all the dragons. Red-Eyes and the others could be vicious, yes, but for Seiyaryu its battle-wrought anger had never seemed like rage, more like divine providence, and great justice. Thinking on this reminded Joey of his greatest anger.

"Where's Yugi?" he demanded. Atensa said nothing and merely smirked, gesturing off at the ranks of dragons, towards his Red-Eyes. Joey looked to where he pointed and saw near the ground a form supported by black talons, a form with red scales and a crown of spikes. "Yug'!" he cried, but knew there would be no response.

Joey rounded on Atensa with rage, or at least performed the best equivalent that he could while constricted. "What did you do to him?"

"Why, all I did was play a little song for him." He summoned his Dragon Piper to the air. Fearful memories surfaced as Joey looked on it. _A Dragon Piper… of course_. "I didn't think it was _that_ loud," Atensa went on. "Maybe it was for him. Regardless, it was quite rude of him to pass out in the middle of my song like that."

"You jerk!"

Atensa stepped up to him then, right at the base of the roots, and peered up at him with the flames of a strange excitement in his eyes. Joey realized that he didn't like the look in his eyes and swallowed. "Would you like to see what he can do?" he whispered with dark intensity.

He whirled around, his robes billowing up as he took great strides toward his choicest captive. "He held out longer than any other dragon," he said loudly enough to cross the clearing. "Much longer than I would have wagered. Even so, there is still a delay in the spell, but that is to be expected: he _is_ only a half-blood, after all."

He stood in front of Yugi; signaled for Red-Eyes to let go. Yugi stood unnaturally still once released, even his tail, which lay in a motionless coil around his feet devoid of even its nominal swishing. There was something distinctly off about his posture, and Joey felt a slithering dread creep into his stomach. Atensa gave a wave and the other dragons pulled back, leaving him alone with Yugi. "Would you like to see what he can do?" he repeated.

"Don't you dare touch him!"

"Tsk tsk, you should be more concerned with what he'll do to you." He gestured at the bound resistance forces. "You're sitting targets in front of a sleeping dragon."

"He ain't a dragon! He's Yugi!" Joey swallowed thickly. Emotion was coming up within him to replace his fear. "He's a person. He's my best friend, and I – _I trust him!_"

His declaration rang out against the curling mountain air. He had relinquished what fears he had for his friend, _of_ his friend… Whatever happened now was fate. Atensa's strange dementia took on more power with his proclamation. "How touching," his voice was a rumble. "Let us ask your 'best friend' if he returns your sentiments." He turned, spinning his waves of magic, and Yugi stirred.

It was a subtle movement at first, then his tail shifted, and his head tilted up so that his eyes were visible as they slid open. The others saw in them exactly what Atensa wanted them to see: a touch of green dust drifting in his eyes and no emotion. The green in his eyes was the iridescent color of a peacock, one that changed in hue as the angle of light shifted. With the setting sun shining directly onto his face the green was dull and brilliant purple shone behind it.

"You speak of his humanity but I will show you a dragon's rage!" hollered Atensa, guiding his magic further. There was a hesitation before Yugi started growling. The sound was loud enough to clearly reach Joey's ears and wrench his heart. His tail curled, lifting up so that the blade was readily visible, crimson scales stained vermillion in the fading light. "A dragon in viciousness and in essence!" shouted Atensa.

Yugi snarled, fangs edged in the shadows cast by the setting sun. Dark orange sunlight struck his face, carving it into the same areas of dark shadows and fierce highlights, and in that light something pinged in Joey's head. He noticed the subtle change in Yugi's expression, a slight glimmer of light on an exposed tooth, as his snarl changed, inexplicably… into a grin.

Yugi whirled, scales flashing, eyes shining an unhindered violet to face Atensa with spite and pride and a dragon's fierce snarl lashing in his voice. "Psych!"

Atensa gasped but was already knocked down before he could react. He gestured wildly to his Dragon Piper but Yugi had already raised his tail high and smacked it – clean and hard – into the rocks beyond. The small monster cracked upon impact, then crumbled into dust. Waves of broken spells spilled from the site, tracing spider thread paths back to the ensorcelled dragons, which shook the light from their eyes and the magic dust from their scales. Atensa saw his army of dragons slowly loosen from their servitude and paled.

Yugi pressed him down hard against the rocky ground. Atensa should have had the strength to break free from the grip of someone half his size, yet he found himself feeble, paralyzed into weakness by the radiating heat and anger of the baleful, red-violet eyes that glared at him. "Atensa," he hissed, "I'm glad we can chat face to face."

"Y-You!" he stammered. "There's no way! No way my spell could be broken–"

"Fool!" Yugi cut him off, "You actually believed you had succeeded in taking me?" He flashed his fangs. "Your magic never touched me, Atensa."

"Impossible!"

"No, what's impossible is you making it out of here alive…" Atensa realized just how scared he was of those eyes. "I believe my comrades would like to share with you their feelings on being treated as Imperial dogs." Behind him, the dragons were growling and snarling, stretching their claws and huffing sparks from their nostrils. They stared at Atensa like the victims of an insatiable hunger.

Yugi pulled back, and the dragons encircled the terrorized Atensa. With surging roars they tore into him viciously; there was a muffled scream before one of the dragons ripped his throat out. Such was the end of Atensa.

Yugi looked away from the sight. He turned instead to his friends, still bound by the roots. He couldn't suppress the grin creeping up on him. They were staring at him numbly, absolutely thunderstruck. A dragon could have walked up and kissed them full on the mouth before they would have reacted. With a grand flourish of his arm he bowed and said royally, "Tada."

Still they stared, even more confused by Yugi's actions. Innocently he asked them, "What, no applause?"

"Y-Yug'?" Joey asked weakly, working through his stupor.

"You'll have to speak up. My ears are still ringing, I'm afraid."

"What the hell did you just do?" he blurted.

Yugi's eyes sparkled mischievously. "You make it sound as though I've committed a crime. I thought it was a wonderful performance."

"'Performance?' You mean you were…" Joey looked as though he had been hit in the face with a brick. "You were _faking it?_"

"I prefer the term 'acting,'" he said, his grin broadening, "but yes."

"But the growling–"

"That's easy. Anyone can do that. All it takes is practice." He demonstrated by inhaling and releasing his breath, holding the air back in his throat. The sound produced was exactly the same as his prior growl. (2)

Joey gaped at him. "But your eyes were–"

Yugi chuckled. "That I had help with." He tapped the violet gem around his neck, which gave a quick pulse of light in acknowledgement.

Joey could have died. It was all so _simple_. "But… But… _Why?_"

"Because it was the only way to get our dragons back," he said. "There was an extremely low chance of us ever succeeding in reclaiming them by force. The only viable options were to get them back with stealth or strategy. Seeing as how it was impossible to have a sound strategy without knowing the enemy's methods for taking our dragons, by elimination, stealth was the only way."

"There's no way you could have predicted everything would turn out like this."

"No? Let's test my logic, then. Initially, our only clues were from the two battles fought with the Imperials. From those, we know that it was our enemy's goal to take our dragons from us, but during the course of those battles little damage was inflicted physically to our monsters, not until our dragons turned against us. Thus we can assume it was not only our enemy's goal to steal our monsters, but to weaken our emotional resolve as well. We were harrowed, but not knocked out of the count; weakened with the hopes of crumpling in a later encounter.

"During the second fight, a teleportation spell was used in the enemy's retreat. To execute a teleportation spell, particularly for such a high number of Imperials and monsters to be carried, requires massive amounts of magical energy. During the course of the battle Mahado did not detect any signatures of magic that would be strong enough to complete such a task, even among the Spellcaster monsters, which meant: there was a third party, watching the battle at a distance.

"This third party was in tandem with the enemy, obviously, since he aided their retreat. The fact that he was hiding shows his cowardice in the face of battle. Whoever it was preferred instead to watch in safety, then act when he was sure of success. This might have been the end of our encounters with him, but there was an unexpected twist thrown in: me. I could hear the sound he used to control dragons.

"Since we couldn't identify the source of the sound during the battle, that meant that it was with our hidden guest, wielded from afar. He, being in command of the sound, would have noticed my reaction to it, and taken interest in it. Let us remember that our enemy's assumed goal was to destroy our resolve to fight, to attack our hearts. Imagine then the opportunity that appeared before him. He saw that I, the leader of the resistance, could hear the sound. To turn our own dragons against us is one thing. What if he could succeed in turning me against the rest of you? It would be his ultimate strike to our spirit.

"I realized this, and figured to use it to my advantage. I would let him think I was playing into his hands. With his cowardice, he would not have attempted to do anything to me unless he could assure he would be victorious. It would be much easier for him to trap me alone with Fizdis than it would have been had I gone with the rest of you. I myself was going to suggest staying behind, but Joey did that for me. This worked favorably; I couldn't let you in on my plans, for fear of him somehow learning of them.

"It was obvious that when our friend revealed himself he would try to force his magic against me. I arranged with Mahado prior to his assault to set up several spells that would make it appear as though I had submitted, namely the green eyes. Unfortunately, he couldn't stop the pain – that was real – but I didn't have to worry about the spell itself because I truly was immune to it.

"Now back to our friend. Since he believed he could control me, he believed he held all the cards for this situation; this was enough to get the coward to believe he could not be defeated. This sense of security led to him revealing himself to you. Naturally he would want to show off _all_ of his power – all of his dragons. With the belief that I had been successfully taken, he wouldn't have feared placing me among his ranks. He didn't suspect that I could turn on him, and in the end he made the lethal mistake of bringing his fragile Dragon Piper too close to my tail." (3)

Yugi finished and took another bow beneath the stares of his comrades. "How's that for logic?"

"Duh…" No one could believe all that Yugi had just said, yet he had recounted his chained thoughts with the ease of telling what had happened to him at school that day. Inside they were awestruck.

"Remind me to call you the next time I lose my car keys," said Tristan numbly.

"Sure. Now, let's get you guys down from there." Yugi called his two magicians, who used their magic to peel away the vines ensnaring his friends. He stood on the ground beneath as they unraveled the roots and slowly lifted Téa down. He steadied her as she touched down on the ground. "Easy now. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she said quietly, not looking at him. "You scared me with that act, Yugi."

"I know." Then for no reason at all he hugged her, and told her, "I promise I won't do that again." She nodded, and hugged him back.

Yugi then moved to catch Fizdis. She seemed wobbly on her feet, thick with the post-worry jittery nerves, and Yugi said softly in her ear, "Fizdis. Had Atensa done anything to threaten you, back in the field, I would have dropped my cover then and stopped him."

She gasped, her eyes wide, shining brown.

"I want you to know that."

She nodded.

Yugi watched Joey tumble down and crash in an undignified heap after refusing to accept the aid of Tristan. He laughed and went over to help him up. "Still have all your grace, I see," he said, offering his hand.

Joey didn't take it. He sat there, unmoving, his hair in his face. After a long silence he exclaimed, "You idiot!"

Yugi flinched. "What?"

"Do you have any idea how freaked out I was? I _ran_ all the way here! That stupid act terrified me!" He rose quickly to his feet. "I'm gonna' kill you!"

And so they did the only thing logical: Yugi ran, and Joey chased him.

"Stop being angry!" called Yugi over his shoulder. "Everything worked out, didn't it?"

"I'm still gonna' knock some sense into you!"

No matter how tired he already was, Joey was faster than Yugi. He caught up to his query and pulled him down. Both hit the ground with a puff of dust. Joey seized his friend in a tight one-armed hug. Yugi struggled against it. "Hey! Let go! You win!"

"Nope, I gotta' punish you first." With that he took his fist and proceeded to rub it in Yugi's hair as jarringly as he could, making the spikes even crazier.

"Ow! Stop that! You know I hate that!"

Mai watched from a distance and shook her head. "Must be a guy thing." After that it didn't matter, for soon they were both laughing and dusting themselves off. Something had happened more important than rescuing the resistance dragons.

The two of them had made up.

* * *

Notes: 

(One) – Black Dragon Jungle King is one of my most favorite monsters _ever_. It's in nearly every game they've released… You can be sure that if it were in this game (and it saddens me that it's not), he would be one of the resistance monsters.

(Two) – It's true. The sound I imagine Yugi making is one hundred percent achievable by humans. I do it all the time. The screech too.

(Three) – Elementary, my dear Watson. (Holy frick.)

SC: Once again, holy frick. I have bested the longest chapter record by a _lot_:. That's too much, my friends. I need to cut back. I think the reason my chapters are so long is because I plan everything out so much. When I plan, I have to say everything that I planned.

I'm really proud of the logic in this chapter. I worked really hard to make everything work. Now that you know the end, go back and reread it. You'll see all of the foreshadowing I threw in.

I'm also sorry this took so long. I wanted it out before March ended, but I didn't get as much writing done over spring break as I had planned. (Stupid labs.)

Please review! If you don't hate me, that is… (I know there are more of you than just three out there. How could three people leave 100 hits on a chapter! Please review people!)


	18. Shattered

SC: This chapter is technically off game plot, which is ironic because it contains more of the game plot than the last chapter did. Basically, the veer I had with Counterattack was pretty sharp. I need to get back into line. Those of you who know what happens in the _real_ Counterattack… well, now we get game plot.

Did you know that in the game there is no indication of whether Fizdis is a girl or a boy?

Also: the title is brought up several times. Look for it.

**Shattered**

After the mess with Atensa, the resistance then took the fort. With no one to lead them, the remaining Imperial troops were like flies: pestering, but without unification to their attack; and now with their dragons back the resistance was stronger than ever. Fort Chelyumn was theirs in minutes.

"Ah-yeah! The resistance is back in business!" Joey practically kicked the front door off of its hinges once the fight outside was done. He held out his arms and did a twirl in the fort's front hall. "Nothing beats collecting the spoils after a round of Imperial tail-kicking."

"I share your sentiments," said Yugi, grinning. The last ordeal had lifted the hazy gloom from his eyes. He was genuinely happy again, something that had been lost on him with the recent events, between the injuries and shunning of his friends. His tail swished and he added wryly, "Except for the part about kicking people's tails." Joey laughed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Some spoils, though." Tristan eyed the place warily. "Looks like the Empire really _didn't_ care about this dump." The ghastly hall, bleaker than any other they had taken, was bogged with stagnant puddles: remnants of the last rainfall that had leaked inside and never dried. "All it needs is some stalactites to be a cave. I swear I hear bats or something."

"It's cold, too." Fizdis gripped her elbows, silver mist at her lips. "I can almost see my breath…"

"We _are_ in the mountains; it's almost night, too," said Ryou. His brilliant hair was the brightest thing visible in the dim lighting. The heavy cold and shadows around them made it hard to see even the usual shine off of Yugi's scales and leather clothes.

"I am _not_ sleeping in a puddle of ice-water," grumbled Mai. The harrowing events of the day had left her with limp, disheveled hair and a weary-lined face, and it was clear that the knowledge of her own unkemptness irritated her to no end. "Those creeps had to be sleeping somewhere warm. Let's find it."

After a marginal amount of castle combing Yugi opened a door and was met with a gush of warm, curling air. "Hey, guys!" He had uncovered a large, circular chamber with a sunken floor a few steps lower than the doorway. Various rugs and cushions covered the floor around a plush bed, set off to one side of the room. Deep crimson tapestries lined the walls and cast black-and-orange shadows in the light of a smoldering fire. The room was formal enough to have been Atensa's private chamber, but judging from the blankets and cloth strewn everywhere Yugi suspected that everyone in the division might have slept here.

Téa appeared in the doorway behind him and her eyes lit with relieved joy. "It's so warm…"

"There's enough room for everyone, if you don't mind the floor," Yugi said to her. His voice was warm like the air slipping around them, gentle like the light flickering on their isolated forms. Téa shivered at the sound; blushed when she noticed his smile.

"Sweet!" Joey and Tristan appeared right off-cue behind them, scrambling for the heat. "I claim the big bed!" they yelled as one.

Téa groaned and Yugi shook his head. He moved away from the door to the fireplace set low into the floor. It still had a few flames burning, hinting at the recent hour of its last occupancy, but they were low. As he bent to take a stick from the pile heaped up nearby he noticed some papers stacked on a small stand. At Mahado's nudge he looked more closely at them and saw furious notes scrawled across the pages, along with what appeared to be arcane symbols. Perceivably, they were Atensa's notes on magic. He leafed through a few pages with half-interest, until his eyes landed on a drawing of a flute. He hissed, and quietly and innocently he took the whole stack and threw it into the fire.

Joey and Tristan were still engaged in their argument. "What? Who says you get the big bed?" demanded Joey. "You didn't even do anything all day, you oaf!"

"Oh yeah? And just what did _you_ do to earn it?" Tristan countered.

"_I_ saved the day!"

Tristan rolled his eyes. "If anyone 'saved the day,' it was Yugi. That was just… crazy. I mean, _jeez_. He still gets me with that…"

Yugi chuckled at Joey's pouting face. "Well, I'll forego my title to Joey, in honor of his superior show of athletic skill." Joey cheered and punched Tristan in the arm. He added, "Also because it's a much more dignified show of friendship than a noogie."

"Hey," Joey rounded on him, "that was punishment. I can give ya' another." His eyes flashed with energy, the old Joey that wasn't afraid to joke with his friend. Much as his hair would object, Yugi liked this Joey more than the one that had withdrawn from him so.

"I'll decline the offer, thanks."

Mai, Ryou, Fizdis, and Shimon trudged in then, the warmth of the room solidifying their exhaustion. Mai marched right up to the bed where Joey stood victorious and shoved him aside. "Thanks for the loft, Hon'."

"Wha–? Hey! That's mine!"

"And I know you're _such_ a gentleman, and that you'll give it over to me." She settled on the bed and winked at him. "See? You're so thoughtful!" Joey stared at her, dumbstruck.

"Uh… Well at least I earned it!" He stomped away, half-scowling, his face flushed red. Tristan laughed at him before receiving a kick in the shin.

The activity started to unwind after that as people found spots among the cloth to settle in. Yugi scored a spot next to the fire, near Téa. He hadn't stopped grinning the whole time. Things were getting back to normal in this crazy life of his, including his crazy friends. He didn't even care that he had to turn onto his stomach in order to find a comfortable way to sleep. Right now, he was content with one thing: the fact that he felt _good_.

* * *

Too bad good things don't last.

Late that night Yugi woke up with a bad feeling blinking in his eyes. The room was dark and still, the fire low. The scent of smoke and charred pine drifted lazily in the air. His friends were sketches, forms of muted color and black. He reached out with one arm, clawing for another stick, and flung it into the fireplace. A puff of embers breathed upward and he glanced around the room warily. Peaceful as it may seem, something had lodged into his nerves as being _wrong_, a gristly feeling that didn't match his surroundings. '_Mahado?_'

'_Soulmaster?_' the sorcerer asked after a fatigued delay in response, and Yugi felt sorry for having to wake him. '_What is it?_'

Yugi bit his tongue, unsure of whether he should say anything, yet he was genuinely concerned. There was a taste of smoke on his tongue that couldn't belong to this fire alone. '_It's just a feeling_,' he said defensively, '_but I don't like it regardless_…'

Mahado stirred to greater attention. He knew the subtleties of reality to which his master was sensitive. '_You sense magic?_'

'_I_…' Magic was not the source of his troubles. He had never felt anything of this nature before; it didn't have the same strength in his blood that a wave of magic had. This was… faint. Black. He didn't truly _feel_ anything, more like his mind was supplying him with things that weren't thoughts or dreams. Images of smoke and shadow kept coming to him in fleeting heartbeats, and still it was dim, barely a murmur against his heart. The sense of _smoke_ kept returning to him. Smoke, and a whisper of hate…

He tried to put the feeling – no, not a feeling, a _knowing_ – into words. '_I sense _violence_. The intent of destruction. I… I don't know what it could mean, or how it could affect us, but_…' He froze suddenly, eyes glinting in the firelight, as memory stood against him. Smoke. Blackness. Evil… '_Scott's army_.'

'_The darkness itself?_' Yugi felt Mahado's aura strengthen and weave a greater connection around his heart, should the event of battle grace them. '_You are sure of this, Soulmaster?_'

Yugi swallowed. Could Scott's army really be here, high in the mountains? Despite himself his tail was curling upward into a defensive arc. '_I don't know how they could be here, but still_.' He checked to see that his friends were still asleep. '_Mahado. Could you sweep the area? See that all's well?_'

With a touch of golden magic Mahado vanished to the outside world. Yugi waited in the semi-darkness. His tail swished, curling and uncurling, the equivalent of a nervous foot tapping on stone. '_Soulmaster_,' came Mahado's voice, and every muscle in him tensed, '_it is the darkness. They have surrounded the castle. They have formed a circle to a radius of one mile, and are closing in_.'

'_They have what?_' Yugi sat up quickly, the smoky images still adrift in his mind's eye. He was stunned. He had… sensed Scott's army. _Known_ that it was there, approaching them under night's wing. He had felt a presence that wasn't forged of magic… _and how did I do that?_ Now a rough feeling of dread was churning through him. '_Can you gauge their numbers?_' he asked. '_Their strength?_'

'_There are as many as ever, teeming… Sometimes they are there, and sometimes they are leering mountain shadows. There are… hundreds of them_.'

Hundreds. A number that none of them was prepared for. Yugi was hastily getting to his feet. '_How soon is their arrival?_'

'_Though they are many, they come slowly. We have maybe twenty minutes_.'

_Twenty minutes! That's hardly enough!_ "Everyone get up!" he shouted.

'_Mahado, stay on lookout until I get out there!_'

"Nnh," groaned Mai, tossing her pillow weakly at him. "What's wrong with you? It must be two in the morning."

Yugi hissed at her exasperatedly. He wasn't angry, but this very sudden, _very_ deadly threat from the brink of nowhere had filled him with an emotion that he wasn't used to: fear. Static was tingling up and down his nerves. "We've got twenty minutes until we get overrun by Scott's forces!"

"Scott's forces? Here? _Now?_"

Joey rolled over and stared at the ceiling, eyes bright in the dark. "How the hell did they know we were here?"

"I don't know. We don't have time to debate. We need to move _now_."

Tristan sat up grumpily, rubbing his eyes. "I hate him. _I'll_ be the one to kill him."

'_Soulmaster!_' Mahado said suddenly. '_I have been seen. The darkness knows we are aware of its presence. They have hastened their coming, and are nearing the peaks_.'

Yugi snarled. "Joey, Mai! You're with me, outside! The rest of you, get ready to fight!" He dashed out the door, leaving Joey and Mai to scramble to their feet and chase after him.

"Wha – Why us?" asked Joey between breaths as they dashed for the roof.

"We need air support! You're my best fliers!" They burst onto the roof then, chilled fog rolling low against their ankles. Already the shadows on the roof seemed too dark; too real and solid for the night. Yugi didn't let up his pace and headed straight for the ledge keeping back the sky, as rose-colored light streamed beside him, becoming feathers and flight. He jumped, and Seiyaryu was beneath him, and they were airborne.

'_Soulmaster_,' came Mahado's voice. Seiyaryu swooped toward him, flapping high above the parapets.

'_What have you seen of these creatures?_' Yugi asked, eyes narrow and sharp in the starlight. Red-Eyes and Curse of Dragon were hastily flapping up to join them.

'_As I have said, they are shifting. Seemingly endless, like sand_…' He looked hard at Yugi, matching his master's slit-thin eyes for sternness. '_They appear to have no monsters with them. It seems that they themselves are the weapon, using claw and shadow to destroy. There is a strange magic about them – one that even I cannot identify_.'

"It's Scott," said Yugi, a growl in his words. "He's created this ultimate destructive force to obliterate us." That was the plan, after all, wasn't it? Atensa to weaken them, and Scott to finish them off… The history he had pieced together was playing itself out, exactly as he had predicted.

_Think. Plan. Get your friends out of this_.

Yugi saw the others appear on the roof below. Some of them began calling monsters to join the circle in the sky. He dug in his heels then, steering Seiyaryu down. "No! Stay on the ground!" he called to them.

"But you all are up there!" said Ryou, one leg on Parrot Dragon's back.

"_No!_ Stay where you are. _All_ of you!" Ryou flinched, nicked by the blade edge in Yugi's words. "We're _extremely_ outnumbered. We need to hold the fort; it's the only advantage we hold to them! Send up your flying monsters, but anyone grounded should stay to the walls!"

Seiyaryu swooped to the other side of the fort. Yugi scanned its form, searching for some fortification they could use to their defense. There were none. Just the four walls holding it up, and the leaky roof over it. The Empire had never meant for this fort to be important, and thus had never anticipated its use in a battle like this one. The resistance had to be their own defense, which meant certain death against these numbers – unless Yugi could think of something.

The mountains penned them in with rocky slopes on three sides; the fourth, the path up the mountain to reach the fort, was open but narrow and offered no protection from the onslaught. There were no natural barriers to aid them, and so long as Scott's forces came via the mountains, they were effectively surrounded. Around the fort there was very little open ground, a ring of flat rock and hard earth – the demons would be right on top of them almost as soon as they cleared the peaks.

'_Soulmaster, they draw nearer!_' Mahado warned.

_Think!_ Yugi told himself fiercely. He needed a way to get the battle on one front…

'_Mahado, tell me! Could these creatures be stopped with magic?_'

'_They are endless, and too strong! My magic is not enough to destroy all of them, not as powerful as they are; and I know not what effects their foreign magic might have against mine!_' Then Mahado froze, an uncharacteristically startled look on his face. He saw the idea that his master was thinking in his mind and was stunned. '_Surely not such a parlor trick–!_'

'_I'll help!_' chimed Mana from her gem. '_This kind of spell was never Teacher's thing, anyway_.' Mahado's face reddened.

'_I know not if such a spell would deter them_–'

'_We have no choice!_' Yugi countered. '_We'll try anything at this point!_' He turned his gaze over to the castle, eyeing the positions his friends had taken around the roof, and looked up – and then he saw the darkness.

"_Gods_," he breathed.

Night had bled on the mountains, sable-dark. True to Mahado's word, the demons cresting the mountain's edge were like sand shifting on a dune, with their hulking forms suddenly becoming two, or moving thirty feet to the right, or wafting away into nothing at all. It was impossible to count them all. The layer of smoke so keenly in his memory was there, choking off the stars. The light of the moon dimmed over them, and the only light with which to see anything was the glow cast by a thousand evil eyes. (1)

Everything was frozen for a moment: the resistance, the darkness, the wind.

'_Mana!_' Yugi called. '_It's now or never!_'

'_Right!_' Mana appeared in a swish of violet that lit the sky. Her staff hovered beside her as she drew up her arms, for illusion magic worked better when shaped by one's own hands. She wove the symbols–

BOOM!

A huge explosion sounded from the open area on the right-hand side of the fort. A field of flames ignited the ground, shimmering violet-red, throwing off waves of heat. The resistance members had all jumped in terror at the sound, which in truth had been only that.

'_I thought the sound might make it better_,' said Mana proudly. '_The heat will help too, although if they get too close they'll pass through it and know that the fire is an illusion_.'

'_Never mind that. Thank you, Mana_.' Hopefully, this would trick the demons into approaching from one side of the fort only. If they could fight on one front, there was a chance they could survive this onslaught – barely. _If there isn't a barrier between you and your enemy, make one, _Yugi thought to himself, smirking slightly, _and if you can't make one, fake one_.

'_That is if fire is even a hindrance to them_,' said Mahado grimly. Inwardly Yugi agreed, but he prayed anyway.

Scott's forces started their descent over the mountain face. Like behemoths they trudged, taking pounding steps, slow and unshakable like the mountain itself. Yugi watched; they came down from all sides like sludge slipping down a drain. Seeping… and then a shift. Those on the right hand side began to turn away from the false fire, thickening the ranks to either side of it. They were avoiding the illusion!

Yugi steered Seiyaryu back toward his allies. "Listen to me!" he called to them. "Hit where they are the most numerous, where there is a chance of hitting more than one! Let the walls be a defense, and let them come to you!"

The first of the demons set its foot to the land surrounding the fort. Above, Yugi bared his fangs and called Mahado to his side. '_Let our first strike be the strongest!_' he declared. Starlit magic gathered at Mahado's staff, casting an indigo glow upon both of their frames, as twin lights of hope in the sky.

"Black Magic!"

The streak of magic blazed down toward the front ranks of the approaching onslaught. Added to that was a silver fireball from Seiyaryu, and the two formed a blazing comet with a glittering sapphire tail. The demons all seemed to shudder in the light as it washed over their twisted leather forms. The comet carved a great arc in the sky before coming down into the ranks of demons. One of the demons fell to the ground with an unholy screech. Writhing diamond flames and magic tore through its hide down to the bone, and it was gone. One down, several hundred to go.

Yugi swallowed, a sudden parched feeling in his throat. He knew the resistance was in way over its head, and that they had barely any chance of surviving. From what he could see of their faces below him, the others knew it, too. He found that his hand was on Seiyaryu's neck, stroking pink scales. "Seiyaryu?" he asked, and was surprised at the shakiness of his own voice. His dragon growled up at him, a roborant sound of a strong presence, as if to say _I am here, and I am with you_. Yugi looked to his friends beneath him. "Help me get them through this."

Seiyaryu nodded, and sapphire gleamed in its eyes.

Whatever spell had come over the demons had ended, and they pressed forward again; though now, as battle was unfolding, they had picked up their pace, and brandished their claws readily. Curse of Dragon crested a wind beside him, and Mai's expression was like the stare of a hawk on a field. "It's been a while since I've actually had to fight like this. I mean, there's a fight, and then there's a _fight_. An actual battle for your life, and there's a good chance you'll lose. Man." She turned her sharp eyes to the enemy below. "I'm getting excited."

Red-Eyes swooped near them. "I would say ladies first, but I'm really starting to hate looking at these things." Joey glared down at the encroaching demons. "Go Red-Eyes! Black Fire Bullet!" Red-Eyes roared and a dark red version of the same heavenly comet careened down into the demons and exploded forcefully. Another of the beasts screeched and fell, but it was just a drop in the bucket. Then everything kicked into high gear.

The demons were no longer content with just marching at their targets. Now they screeched and bellowed, wisps of onyx fog wafting from them. Though they could not fly, they could leap high enough to swipe at the monsters overhead with their huge talons. They also chose now to begin using the foreign magic Mahado had described: black, crackling energy seethed in their hands as they lobbed shots like cannonballs at the fortress walls. Yugi's nerves buzzed and he felt that same hateful desire to destroy stronger than ever in his mind.

"They're like machines… Relentless…" Seiyaryu swooped suddenly, jarring him with wind, as it dodged one of the demon's attacks. Yugi held on tight and locked his eyes on the demon that had fired at them. He knew that Mahado and Mana's magic wouldn't be enough to take out these creatures entirely, but, a smirk curling his lips, he knew one thing that would.

"Shining plasma!" Gorgeous silver fire streamed in an arc, chasing, homing in on that one demon that had locked eyes with him –

BSSHH! Flames exploded and devoured the dark beast. For all their evident might and relentlessness, they were no match for divine fire. But Seiyaryu was only one monster, and it alone could not take down the hundreds now engulfing them.

The fight had escalated now. The aerial monsters were doing all they could to keep the demons from reaching the fort, but there were so many that they couldn't hold back the waves. The demons had reached the fort wall and many were climbing up to eradicate the resistance forces on top. Attacks were launched to drive them back, but they were so hardy that unless they were hit directly with a powerful blow, the demons shirked the damage off and kept coming.

An idea forming in her head, Mai urged her Curse of Dragon lower to the teeming mass below. "Dragon Flame!" Her dragon released a gush of flames that ignited a slice of the battlefield. By attacking an area instead of individual monsters, she hoped to take out more of them or at least whittle them down from full strength. When the fires receded, however, the demons were still standing. Small plumes of fire crackled on their hides, but the huge monsters didn't even seem to notice. They kept stomping forward without a single consolation to their pace.

Yugi saw this and was stunned. The fire hadn't affected them at all! It was as if they were immune to it… Seiyaryu dove low and raked its clawed feet along one of the demons, and another thought came to him. These demons seemed immune to fire. Dragons like Seiyaryu with empowered fire and Red-Eyes with the force of impact behind the flames could deal damage, but normal, unmodified fire did nothing to them. Why, then, had the demons avoided the illusory wall of fire? If they were immune to it, they could have walked through unharmed; and if they knew that it was an illusion, they would know that continuing through it would leave them unfazed. It just didn't make sense – Yugi racked his brain for an answer to what might be going on, but without another clue he was left baffled.

Red-Eyes swooped in the wake of a Black Fire Bullet and slashed a demon in the face with his claws. The demon howled and what looked like black blood with the consistency of syrup gushed from the gashes on its face. "Serves you right!" hollered Joey as they flew past. He was looking over his shoulder at the damage he had done and so didn't see the demon lunge up from under them. Hooked talons caught on Red-Eyes's thigh and snagged on ebony scales. Red-Eyes jerked violently with the weight, roaring in pain. Joey was caught unaware and scrambled to hold on to his dragon, but the demon's mass had caused Red-Eyes to tilt and now he was slipping free into gravity's grasp.

"Aaahh!" he yelled, as he fell free from his dragon and tumbled toward the ground.

Yugi's head whipped around when he heard the scream. "Joey!"

THWACK! He hit the ground forcefully and felt his arm crunch under his weight. He cried out in agony, but his broken arm was the least of his problems. The demons were all around him, twice his size in all dimensions, and he was stranded without a means to defend himself.

Seiyaryu twisted in the air and flew hastily to the spot. "Joey!" Yugi called again. He saw the obvious pain on Joey's face and knew that it wouldn't be long before the demons noticed the pathetic thing at their feet. "Shining Plasma!" Seiyaryu launched a rapid assault of fireballs, striking six of the behemoths in a ring around Joey. With the temporary safety of the burning demons as a shield Seiyaryu swooped low over the spot. Yugi jumped off and landed beside his weakened friend.

"Joey!"

"Yug'..." Joey looked up at him, his breath coming unevenly. "My arm... I think it's broken..." Ugly black and blue splotches had formed on his arm and were growing larger, but despite this it didn't seem to be a critical break; the arm itself was in one piece and bone hadn't pierced his skin.

"We need to get you out of here!" Yugi tried to see through the smoke above them, searching for Seiyaryu.

"Yug', look out!" A demon had burst through the sputtering silver fire and was bearing down on them, gruesome tusks jutting out of its leathery maw. Yugi paled and out of pure reaction swung his tail into its path just as it started to rush them. The blade drove point first into its gut, puncturing deeply enough to cause the massive beast to roar in pain. Both Yugi and Joey were shocked as the demon stumbled back; Yugi used the opportunity to get between his friend and their attacker, his tail curling in front of him defensively.

Just then a hailstorm of magic rained down onto the spot. The wounded demon and several more around them were disintegrated and Mahado descended to the scene. '_Soulmaster, quickly! The two of you must get off the ground!_' Red-Eyes landed beside them and lowered its neck to them.

"Come on!" Yugi helped Joey clamber on. Joey winced, most of his forearm a giant bruise. He looked painfully at Mahado, whom was defending them as they made their escape.

"Tell your magician I owe him one." Red-Eyes thrust down great wings and took off. When they reached a safe distance above the battlefield Seiyaryu swooped in next to its master, watching the scene taking place on Red-Eyes's back.

"Joey," Yugi put a hand on his shoulder, a fearful concern in his eyes, "you're hurt. You need to get to the rooftop."

"M'fine," he mumbled. He was breathing heavily through his teeth. "It just hurts. I can fight."

"You can't hold on to your dragon properly with that arm. You could fall again!"

"Are you kidding? I'll hold on with my teeth if I have to..." He spied the dripping black stain on Yugi's tail blade. "Damn. I guess you can defend yourself from these things, huh? You don't even need your dragon."

"Joey–" Yugi began exasperatedly, but something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. In the distance Bickuribox was firing a volley of blasts at the demons. It looked like a completely normal battle scene, with demons falling to the ground and Bickuribox laughing madly, except for one thing: the shots were going _through_ the demons, not even touching them. Every so often one would hit, and a demon would fall to its knees, but the rest sailed by like puffs of wind. Bickuribox was cackling its head off and firing too rapidly to pay attention to what it was hitting, and the others hadn't noticed this strange phenomenon, either. Yugi's sense of _something fishy_ was going off with bells and sirens in his head.

His eyes narrowed. "Seiyaryu!" he called, his arm extended. With a great flap of its wings Seiyaryu reared back and launched a fireball. Silver flames streaked toward one of the demons – then shuddered, and curved sharply to hit a demon to the left of the one it had been aimed at.

Joey's jaw dropped. "It avoided it completely!"

"No," Yugi countered, stern embers glittering in his eyes. "It didn't _avoid_ the demon... It didn't register it as a _target_."

_Scott's army_, Yugi realized. _These are_ Scott's _forces! He created this world... Which means_...

Gods.

'_Illusions!_' he cried. '_These forces aren't real!_'

'_What?_' Mana cried.

'_Soulmaster, that cannot be – for even with their foreign magic, they are solid, capable of causing us damage; and even I do not detect the traces of illusory magic!_'

Neither did Yugi, which meant that it was something else. '_It isn't something you'd be able to detect. These forces are a different kind of illusion: cloned images!_'

'"_Cloned?_"' repeated Mahado, a rare confusion in his voice. '_What do you mean?_'

Yugi gripped Seiyaryu's reins more tightly in his fist. '_Scott created this world with computer technology. Everything in here works like a computer… He wrote programs to create these demons, but only a portion of this army is actually real. The rest are copied images of the real ones, pasted in alongside them and programmed to mimic their actions; but they lack the solid strength to hurt us._

'_Everything makes sense._ _Scott programmed his demons to be immune to normal fire, but he also set them to seek us out as their targets. With the illusory wall of fire in place, the path to their target was obstructed, and it wasn't in their coding to realize that they could just go through it_...'

Mahado and Mana took in the fleeting images of computer screens and electrical knowledge filtering with Yugi's thoughts and were utterly bewildered. '_Such is a modern type of magic?_' asked Mahado. '_One created by humans?_'

'_Not really; but here, to him, it works like magic_.' Yugi realized that Scott must have programmed these forces into the game before he entered. They had appeared at the same time as he had, and bore no magical signature about them. Without any magic in their coding, Mahado couldn't detect their illusory nature; yet despite his ability to alter the computer files running this world, Scott also did possess true magic. The deletion spell he had used on Haysheen had been true magic, not some computer re-coding. It would have been impossible for him to reprogram the realm and delete the Emperor while he was within the game himself.

So, when Yugi had sensed the coming of the dark army, he had not sensed anything magical at all. Rather, he had been so in tune with the area as to sense an alteration to the game's programming, a spot on the very fabric of the realm. He shivered slightly, a little shaken that he had displayed such ability that not even Mahado could replicate with magic. He hadn't felt those things the first time they had encountered the demons... so why had he now? _Although, if you_ hadn't _felt them coming, the demons would have been all over the fortress with nothing to stop them_...

"Hey! Earth to Yugi!" Joey waved his hand in front of Yugi's zoned out eyes. "Come back to us!"

Yugi snapped back to reality. In talking with Mahado he had spaced out from the current situation at hand. He glanced at Seiyaryu, whom was watching him with firm gemstone eyes. "Joey," he said, turning back to his friend, "they're not real."

"What? Who's not real?"

"The demons!" he exclaimed. "Some of them are, but the rest are just images!"

Joey looked ready to fall over with shock, but he gripped Red-Eyes's neck tightly. "You gotta' be kiddin' me!"

"I kid you not – " he scrutinized the battlefield, watching the sea of demons. Those lobbing energy at the fortress had to be real, for they were leaving scars in the stone, as well as those scaling the walls. A few more solid ones were interacting with the flying monsters, but the rest he assumed to be one hundred percent phony. "I'd say about a third of this army is real."

"A _third?_" That still left anywhere from sixty to eighty demons left. "How do you know?"

"It's an simulation made by Scott. He programmed a force this large to daunt us into being afraid, and in being afraid we would be weaker when facing the real ones." Reading the sharp thoughts in his head, Seiyaryu stiffened and swooped beneath Red-Eyes, allowing Yugi to land on its back. "We have to tell the others!"

A whoosh of air rattled over pink feathers as Seiyaryu aimed for the parapets where the grounded members were fighting. Several of the demons had successfully clambered up onto the roof and were sparring with monsters; more were on their way up the battle-torn walls. Fizdis and King Rex were staring down a particularly nasty looking demon with spikes jutting out of its arms when silver fire thundered down upon it.

"Yugi!" She craned her neck up to see him poised in the sky above her, Seiyaryu's wings beating silver-dusted air. He looked so powerful, with regal posture and eyes that could drive back a hurricane. Her heart beat faster beneath his gaze of judgment day.

"Fizdis!" he called to her, snapping her from her imagery. "Get the others – tell them to keep fighting the demons that make it up the walls, but to leave those in the masses alone!" She nodded weakly, and he raced off to another part of the castle.

"Ryou!" he cried when he saw his white haired query. Ryou looked up, his deep eyes harrowed with the wear of battle, yet upon his call he knew that he would be given a duty. "Call your Parrot Dragon, and come with me."

"I thought we were to stay to the fort?"

"The situation has changed. I need your eyes."

Soon the wind was whipping though his brilliant hair as he steered Parrot Dragon to follow Seiyaryu. Yugi was leading him high above the battlefield to the center of the sky. Black swarmed against color below him in the light of the wine-colored fire, and from here the odds looked even less favorable. Ryou turned to Yugi curiously, but Yugi had bent over his dragon and was stroking its neck as he spoke to it.

"It's up to you," he said softly. "Mahado and Mana's magic cannot reveal the illusion to us. You're the only one that can show what of this field is true evil, and what of this field is but a mirage." Seiyaryu's eyes sparkled, and it growled determinedly. Ryou could only watch as Yugi pulled back and Seiyaryu opened its beak.

Silver embers swirled, condensing, like the beginnings of the fireballs he was so used to seeing. Then wisps of light, unlike fire, began building: crystal blue and the white of clouds and the thrumming ring of radiant sunlight. Seiyaryu reared back as this energy collected, and Ryou could liken it only to a proud stallion tossing back its head as it breached the surface of water. Light and air and fire glittered, and he could see within that mass the sparkling of dewdrop magic. This light covered the whole battlefield, and Yugi kept his piercing eyes to his dragon as the energy was released.

A comet blazed forth, but it radiated not only power but also grand emotion. Ryou could practically feel his heart lift with hope as it soared. The great comet then shattered, becoming a thousand tiny specks that rained down upon the sea of demons. It fell with the quiet sound of rain, but the fragments sought out the bellowing demons and settled in the folds of their hides. Not all of the demons were touched: only a portion bore this glittering mark. Those that did have it didn't react to it, as if they couldn't see it.

Then Ryou remembered what Yugi had said about his eyes. The demons had been marked with divine magic, and he was the only one who could see it, and know which ones to strike.

Yugi turned to him. "You can see which ones are real. Direct us so that we know which ones to attack!" Ryou nodded and steered his Parrot Dragon toward the ground. Seiyaryu followed, and Red-Eyes and Curse of Dragon soon came up beside them, but Yugi knew that his dragon no longer had the strength to attack with fire. Mahado and Mana would now be his means of attack.

Ryou's eyes narrowed and he pointed off to the left. "There!" Three colors of flame gushed onto the spot, and a burst of dusky magic sealed the attack as a cell of four demons was eliminated.

"There!" He sighted another that was quickly destroyed. They flew back and forth over the battlefield, Ryou picking out targets for them to attack. Waves of the demons fell, and not just because they had been destroyed; as the real demons were eliminated, droves of the illusory ones vanished as well. Soon the sea had thinned greatly, and most of what was left was near or on the castle.

Fizdis watched the four of them systematically ravage the field. She had forwarded the message to the others, but she was in awe of what she was witnessing. Yugi had figured out the perfect way to deal with their situation, and had used the strengths of not only his monsters, but his friends as well. His tactic of creating a wall of fire had ensured that they were not completely overrun on the ground. Despite the impossible battle before them he had pulled the resistance out of despair and within reach of victory. Now, the last of the demons stood on the roof in front of her.

"Go, Uraby! Wild Bite!" The tiger-striped dinosaur charged at the demon, ramming his thick skull into its stomach. The demon tried to claw Uraby in the neck but he quickly lashed the arm away with his tail and bit forcefully into its shoulder. A great chunk of black leather tore free, and the demon stumbled back against the edge of the roof.

'_Uh-uh-uh! You've been too much of a migraine to get away so easily now_.' Mana appeared hovering behind the demon, her staff raised in front of her. '_I've been wanting to make up for missing the last confrontation with Scott, so let me give you a message for your master: burn!_' Milky black magic shot from her staff and ripped apart the demon. A few black shreds were left on the stone beneath.

Mahado settled in the air beside her, smirking. '_Impressive, Mana. You have improved greatly_.' She beamed and he added, '_Now you may be of actual use to the resistance_.'

'_Hey! Teacher! That was uncalled for! Yugi, did you hear what he said about me? Are you going to let that fly?_' she squealed.

Yugi chuckled. '_He was making a point. This was your first time to shine for the resistance_.' She scowled at him. '_But you have always done well for me. Thank you_.' Mana's angry face quickly died and she glowed with pride.

Seiyaryu landed wearily on the rooftop. Yugi slid off and found he was exhausted. From the look of the monsters and people around him, they too were worn beyond anything they had been before. The mists of the early morning sun were seeping in around them, and the sky in the far distance had a twinge of lighter color. Morning was nigh.

"Urgh," Joey grunted as he stumbled off his Red-Eyes clutching his arm. Yugi suddenly remembered his injury and rushed over to him. He helped steady him as he plopped down on the stone.

"Joey, are you all right?"

"I'll live," he replied, "but this arm is killing me." His cheeks were flushed a shade lighter, and Yugi knew that he was willing himself to keep from showing his true amount of pain. Stubbornness had always been in his blood.

Ryou saw the pair and moved closer. "An injury?"

"Joey fell during the fight," Yugi explained. "His arm is broken." Ryou winced.

"Ouch. You could probably use a splint, couldn't you?" Joey nodded weakly and he dashed inside to fetch the supplies.

"Do you guys understand what just happened?" Tristan was standing with a distant, dazed look on his face. "We just won. All of those demons, all of that crap, and we _won_."

"We look like hell, though," commented Joey. They had already been tired out from the day before, and their dreams of a full night's sleep had been completely trashed. Tousled hair, bruises, and bleary eyes were all around.

"In your case, you've always looked like that. But yeah." Tristan let out a long whistle. "I just can't believe it."

"We have one person to thank." Yugi's face flushed pink as Téa clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Yugi figured out what was going on. If he hadn't discovered that some of the demons were fake, you guys would have kept attacking the fake ones, and the real ones would have eventually run us over."

"S-Sure," he said. He blamed the stammer on being tired. He was so worn, he felt like his knees would give out from under him any minute.

Ryou returned with some cloth and a pair of sticks he had pulled from the fireplace. "Easy now," he said as he took hold of Joey's arm. "We need to make sure the bone lines up the right way so it will heal the right way."

"How long will it take for him to recover?" asked Fizdis as he worked.

"I don't think it will be too long. It took Yugi's shoulder three days to heal, and this isn't as bad of a wound." He tied the bundled arm around his neck. "You can be reckless again when it's better."

"Then he'll just break the other arm," muttered Mai.

"What was that? I'm not an idiot you know!" Joey grumbled. Mai just rolled her eyes and bonked him on the head. "Ow!

"Let's just get out of this place. I don't want any more company."

"Right." Yugi turned to Shimon. "Shimon, could you fly ahead? We need to find a safe place to stay."

"As you wish, Lord Yugi. Where are we headed?"

Yugi's eyes turned sharp. "This has been going on for too long. Running and fighting Imperials goes straight into his hands." A glimmer of a fang showed as he spoke. "We need to take this fight to Scott. We're going to Sygh-Varths."

Téa gasped. "The capital city?"

"I'm all for it," declared Mai loudly. "I am _done_ with this place; I am _done_ with fighting and roughing it. Let's kick his butt and find the way out of here."

"Me too," growled Joey. "That damn jerk. I'm gonna' ring his neck!"

Shimon left to see what he could find in the capital city, and the others trudged slowly off the roof in exhaustion.

* * *

They were camped out on a hill a few miles away when Shimon returned.

"I've found a place where we can stay," he said. "There's an inn in the capital run by a resistance sympathizer. While our safety is not guaranteed in the rest of the city, there we should be safe."

"Sounds like a plan," said Tristan, turning to see if it had Yugi's approval.

Yugi had a faint sad look in his eyes. "Sure."

"Waitaminute. You've got that look like there's a catch."

"There isn't… Not for you."

Ryou tilted his head curiously. "What do you mean?"

Yugi sighed. "You guys are fine. But I can't just waltz in with the rest of you." He swished his tail emphatically.

"Oh…" Ryou nodded guiltily. "Right. That." He hadn't even thought of the limitations that came with Yugi's new form. The resistance had no problem with him, but others… If he were seen, at the very least, someone would probably scream. He would be a jeopardy to the resistance's secrecy. It saddened Ryou a little that Yugi had been the one to realize this first. That meant that it had been on his mind since… everything. Although, he supposed that it was likely on his mind all the time, given that he had a living reminder of it always looming over his shoulder.

Violet eyes remained solid despite the grimness clearly there. "I'll just have to sneak in at night, that's all."

"Yugi... Are you okay with that?" asked Téa concernedly.

"Does it matter? It has to be done, whether you or I like it. As long as I know where the place is, I'll be fine."

Téa nodded sadly. Shimon quickly explained the location of their safe house, and then they took off, leaving Yugi alone on the hill. Téa watched him over her shoulder until he was out of her sight.

* * *

When they reached their destination, the innkeeper graciously opened his doors to them. He informed them that he had arranged for the whole second floor to be vacant, allowing the resistance to claim it for themselves. Everyone would be getting his or her own room tonight, and Mai practically cheered with joy.

The first thing Joey and Tristan did was order a ton of food. Everyone was eventually drawn to the delightful smells and warm light emanating from the room, all but Téa. The sun was finally setting, and someone needed to keep a watch for Yugi to let him in. Darkness fell over the town, and she watched it deepen into pearly indigo for nearly an hour before she saw something move in the alley below. Excited, she hastily slid open the window and called in a whisper, "Yugi?"

"Téa?" She felt a wave of relief at his voice. At least nothing had happened to him on the way here.

"Yes. We're on the second floor." Téa heard a soft growl and realized that Seiyaryu was there with him. She heard feathered wing beats and saw the small pink dragon rise up toward the window, bearing its rider on its back.

"Thank you, Seiyaryu," said Yugi in his marble-smooth when they reached the window, causing Téa to blush. She offered him a hand to help him balance as he moved from his dragon to the windowsill. He got one foot in, but then caught a wing joint on the window frame and stumbled into the room.

"Oof!"

"Watch out!" Téa caught his shoulder. "You're more of a klutz than Joey," she said with a giggle.

Yugi huffed, "They just need to make bigger windows, is all."

"It was your idea in the first place."

"I know." He looked away and starlight flashed on his eyes. "Unfortunately, it was probably necessary."

"Hey." She grabbed his hand and squeezed it lightly. "Don't worry about it. Now, let's go get some food before Joey and Tristan eat it all."

"Food?" Suddenly Yugi's stomach reminded him of just how hungry he was by grumbling loudly.

"Yeah. They got tons of it... We're gonna' be poor again. Come on." She led him next door and the wall of energy, fragrant foods, and laughter that filled the room hit Yugi like a gust of wind. It was radically different from the quiet darkness he had just come from; he had to blink several times to get his bearings.

"Oh, Yugi, I see you made it in," said Ryou when he saw him enter.

Yugi gave a sheepish grin. "Not without a few splinters."

"Hey Yug'!" Joey waved him down with his good arm. "I saved you some food!" He motioned to the many plates of meat and fruit on the table.

"Really?" He gave a laugh. "Then why do I have the feeling you've eaten a whole mountain already?"

"I told you, he and Tristan ordered a ton of food." Téa shook her head. "The two of them alone eat more than his Red-Eyes."

"Hey!"

"Don't worry," Tristan told him. "We'll get back the gold in no time. For now, let's just eat!"

"Just enjoy it!" urged Fizdis. "Don't you think we've earned it?"

Yugi sighed, a smile creeping up on his face. They certainly did deserve it after all they had been through, especially with these last few tumultuous days. So, himself feeling the celebratory mood of the room, Yugi grabbed a plate and took a seat (his tail curling happily for the fact that the table had benches instead of backed chairs), and laughed beside his friends into the night.

* * *

The resistance had gone to bed late that night, but they had gone to bed happily content. Surely enough, they had managed to finish all of the food. Even Joey and Tristan had found room for more. The laughter and good feelings subsisted for a while longer, but eventually the fact that they had been up for hours caught up with them. They trudged to their rooms for sleep, and then quiet overtook the hall.

Joey was snoring as usual in his room. The moonlight shining through the window fluttered like gossamer butterfly's wings as the door eased open. Footsteps slipped silently inside, leaving the door only barely open. A figure moved across the room slowly, quietly, all the while keeping its eyes on the sleeping Joey. The target he sought rested on the nightstand just beside the bed. Joey had taken off his monster gems and left them there, but they weren't the true prizes. With them, the deep red treasure glinted weakly in the moonlight, its center dark with the absence of fire.

The figure stepped carefully closer. One hand reached out, glistening pale in the moonlight, and eased the spidery chain free from the tangle of others. Joey shifted, and the figure froze, shadowed eyes locked upon him. When he didn't move again, the figure scooped up his prize and crept back out of the room. A steely smirk crossed his lips as he disappeared from the room, Slypher's Orb in hand. (2)

* * *

After having everyone share sleeping quarters for so long, Yugi wasn't used to the quiet that came with having his own room. It had almost been enough to make him feel lonely. This didn't bother him for long, however, as tired as he was. He fell asleep almost the instant he hit the bed, much the way the others had. All of them were exhausted from the prior battle. Even the monsters were out like lights in their gems. Yugi was so soundly asleep that he didn't even notice the intruder come in his room in the darkest hours of the night.

"Another to take care of," a gruff voice said. Groggily Yugi heard the sound but didn't react to it. It had to be just a dream... Then something rough and itchy touched his arm, and his dreamy state faltered a little. _It feels like a rope_, his mind mumbled as though it were nothing at all.

Then everything flew into overdrive. A rope!

"SHYAAH!" The screech was out of Yugi's throat before his eyes were fully open. There was a broad shadow standing beside his bed, leaning over him with hands outstretched. He jerked back from whatever it was and instinctively lashed out with his tail – not really aiming, not really aware of what was going on. He managed to hit the thing in the side.

"Oof!" The thing staggered, but didn't fall. Coming to his senses now, Yugi registered that it was an Imperial soldier. He spied the rope he had felt clenched in the man's fist.

Another soldier hurried into the room. "The others are all taken care of. We've got them tied up outside. This one's the last one."

Yugi's eyes widened in shock. The others had already been captured? His pupils thinned with rage and he snarled at his assailants. He hunkered down on the bed and his tail curled into a scorpion pose, threatening to lash out again.

The staggered guard wiped his lip. "This is the one they warned us about. That devil-dragon half-breed."

Yugi growled angrily at that name, his eyes bright and feral in the dark. He struck with his tail again, catching the newer guard in the ribs. A few of the spikes caught and drew blood as they raked past. The man fell, but attacking had left a hole in Yugi's defenses.

The guard with the rope surged forward and slammed Yugi against the wall. He gasped, winded, but didn't let the sudden assault bank his rage. Immediately his hands were up and clawing at the man with the ferocity of a tiger, to drive him off. The guard cried out and stumbled back, blood dripping from his arm and brow. Yugi hissed and readied his tail for another assault, when suddenly a pair of hands seized his wing and yanked him off the bed onto the floor. The impact left him momentarily stunned, but now the guards had their chance. The bigger one came down and pressed all his weight down against him. Yugi screeched and lashed his tail, splinters flying up from the wooden floor, but the second guard grabbed it and managed to restrain it before it could cause any damage to the man now moving to tie him up.

The big guard tied down his arms and wings, and then bound his wrists behind his back. Yugi struggled but couldn't overcome the man's pinning strength. A third guard had entered the room and was helping the second one tie thick ropes around his tail. They pulled the two trailing lines taut between them, so he wouldn't be able to strike with it. Yugi was breathing heavily through his teeth, half-dazed, his dragonic rage cooling.

Then the biggest guard seized the back of his collar and jerked him to his feet. "You're coming with us, half-dragon rebel," he huffed with an angry sneer.

Yugi was pulled roughly downstairs and outside, where a dozen more Imperial soldiers were standing around the resistance members. They too were bound and tethered to guards like worthless dogs. "Yug'!" cried Joey.

"Damn," said a free soldier when he saw the one leading Yugi. "What happened to you?"

"This one fights," said the bloodied guard. "Hell if I catch some disease from those damned claws. Filthy beast." Yugi uttered a low growl but said nothing.

"You deserved it, you slab of meat!" hollered Joey. His broken arm was on fire, as the soldiers had undone he splint and forced it behind his back. The bloodied guard rolled his eyes.

"Shut that one up." Another guard raised the spear he was carrying and whacked the pole hard on Joey's skull. It certainly served to shut him up: he would have fallen off his feet had not a guard been holding his rope.

"Joey!" cried Tristan. Joey was still conscious but was no doubt seeing stars. "Why you...!"

"Silence before you get the same!" barked the guard holding his rope.

Téa shuddered. This was a horrible mess they were all in. She looked at Yugi for inspiration on keeping her sturdy countenance – but he looked worn. He wasn't willingly going along with what was happening, but he also didn't seem to be plotting a means of escape. His eyes were still thin, but the look behind them was the dull one of someone on autopilot. It was uncharacteristic of him, and it scared her a little. _Maybe it's all too much_, she thought. _So much in such a short time_... She tried to imagine what Yugi was thinking. Was he maybe thinking that this was the true crux, and that the prior battle had been nothing but a ruse for their exhaustion?

She couldn't contemplate for long. The guard assigned to her jerked the rope and spat, "Start walking, rebel."

They were led in an uneven line like some train of prisoners going to their execution. The guards would occasionally curse them or jerk on the ropes to make them stumble whenever they felt like tormenting their captives. Joey fumed angrily to himself. What the hell had happened that had gotten them into this mess? They were supposed to have been safe at the inn – had the innkeeper feigned his rebel sympathy, and turned them in? The fact that he had given them all separate rooms had certainly facilitated their capture. The guards had pulled the innkeeper away from the group when they brought out the resistance members. Joey didn't know what had become of him after that. Although, the faint shivers he spied in Yugi and Ryou's shoulders made him think that maybe he didn't want to know.

People were poking their heads out of windows and doors into the morning mist, hearing the commotion of the guards outside. They stared at the strangely dressed prisoners; gasped when they heard one guard shout: "See the rebels who have defied our Emperor! See how easily they are captured and brought to justice!"

"My word! Those are the rebels?"

"How could the resistance force have been captured?"

"A group that small has been the cause of all the Empire's problems...?"

"Heavens! Look there!"

Joey gulped and shot a glance at Yugi. He had been afraid of this happening; he had wanted them to get to wherever they were going without him being singled out. When it came to magic and curses and monsters, these people were as superstitious as those in the Dark Ages. That meant only one thing if they saw Yugi. He wished death upon those people. _Shut up, you idiots!_

Their voices came more loudly. "Gods! What is that?"

"It looks almost familiar…"

"Isn't that their leader?"

"The resistance is led by that _monstrosity?_"

"Surely it would lead them to do evil–"

"What atrocities have they committed without our knowing...?"

"The resistance must be ensorcelled fools to follow that _demon!_"

That was Joey's last straw. "Shut up, you jerks! You don't know anything about this!"

The people who had been talking to one another jumped when they heard one of the rebel prisoners address them. Rather than have the effect Joey wanted, the people kept talking: "Such rash behavior, how could _they_ be the same ones working to undermine the Empire?"

"Maybe that wasn't what they were doing," said another darkly. "Maybe they wanted to tear it down so they could build it up for themselves."

"All the fortresses they've attacked have caused an increase in the brutality of the army toward civilians!"

"Our farms and shops have been looted to supply the army! If they weren't rebelling, we wouldn't have so little food!"

As bad as these accusations were, Joey's heart clenched the tightest over the things they said about Yugi. "How could he defend a creature like that?" one said, glaring at crimson scales and spikes as they were pulled past.

"See the marks on that soldier? Surely it was that _beast_ that did it..."

"Such a vicious thing–"

"Truly a demon–"

"Wretched–"

"Vile–"

"Shut up!" Joey hollered again, an angry choke in his voice. "Leave him alone, you buncha'–"

"Joey!" Yugi cut him off harshly. Joey flinched, turning his eyes to Yugi. He faced straight ahead, and he held his posture with as much rigid dignity as he could while bound. "That's enough. Stop it."

"But Yug'–!"

Yugi growled, and Joey quickly shut up. The people kept up their din of hateful commentary, some of them going so far as jeering at the resistance and at Yugi. Joey watched his friend's back with a weighted heart. Yugi kept his focus on the guard in front of him, never once looking at those so scorning him. Such incredible inner strength it took, to not react to the hatred burning in his ears. Joey couldn't bear to hear these things said about his friend. They were treating him like he wasn't even a person, like he didn't have a heart. All the while, the people's doubts for the resistance's good intentions grew.

After being led gruelingly through what felt like the whole city, they reached the high gates of the Imperial capitol. The shining white marble soared so high above their heads the sky itself was blocked out – a reasonable image for an empire that blocked the hopes of its people. The white color was too pure and clean to seem real. It reminded Joey of only one other thing: those haunting, empty eyes of Scott.

It hit him then. That must be where the guards were leading them. After all, Scott had become the new Emperor. Those were _his_ forces they had just eradicated. Was he planning to eliminate them here and now, in a grand execution? The resistance couldn't fight like this. He had them in his own domain, helpless, without means of escape. He could crush them all in an instant and leave nothing but stains on the floor…

The capitol walls swallowed them up as they pushed ever deeper toward the center. Inside the halls were dark and cavernous above them, echoing with a low grumble like a hungry beast. It got to the point of being almost pitch black before the walls fell away and they entered the capitol's huge rotunda. A single shaft of sunlight pierced the darkness, shining from a skylight above; the light was weak and feeble, constricted by the great sense of evil lurking there.

"Stop gawking!" huffed the guard holding Fizdis's ropes. He gave them a fierce jerk that almost upset her balance.

"Now, now," the weak sunlight sputtered and dimmed as though a cloud had passed overhead, "leave them be. They are our guests."

Eight pairs of eyes narrowed as their common enemy entered the room. Scott Irvine stepped into the vast rotunda, looking almost like an elite businessman in his slick white suit. His attire stuck out sorely from the darkness of the room, but his face and eyes did well to match it. No one made a sound, save a barely detectable snarl from Yugi.

"Untie them," he said absently, surprising the resistance members. The soldiers started undoing the heavy cords and let them fall in coils around their feet. Joey rubbed his sore wrists, glaring furtively at the soldier pulling away from him. He tried to ignore the stabs of pain coming from his arm after being bound in an unnatural position for so long. Once untied Yugi's tail immediately started whipping back and forth in conjunction with his sharply alert nerves. Tristan looked ready to slug the guy who had been leading him but a look from Ryou made him check his swing.

The guards retreated then from the room. Scott had taken to staring at the back of his hand while waiting. Joey's fist clenched. He hated this guy. At least when Pegasus had been obnoxious to them, he had paid attention to them. This guy ignored them completely!

"Hmm," he said, finally glancing up at them, "and here I come to meet with my friends yet again."

"We ain't your friends, bastard!" roared Joey. "You're our enemy!"

He stared obsessively at Joey, a baleful grin rising on his lips. "Shouting at me is not going to help you win this fight. A true genius wins the battle before it's even fought."

"Yeah? I'll bet you enjoyed watching us get paraded around like cheap animals!"

"The only reason you have the upper hand here is because _you're_ the one who trapped us here in the first place!" Tristan brandished a fist.

Scott chuckled darkly, and the sound resonated in the marble walls and floors and vibrated up into their legs. "You should be grateful I allowed you that much. I could have killed you instead. I have more power over this realm than even you know."

Joey wasn't convinced. His scowl turned smug and he said, "Oh yeah? Last time, I seem to recall you ran away like a big white chicken. Yugi had you cornered and you turned tail and ran. I bet _that_ wasn't in your genius plan!"

"I highly doubt I will have to face that in the future," said Scott, undaunted. His gaze slid to Yugi and soaked in his image. "I can see the side-effects of the last summoning. I doubt you are likely to try that one again. Are you, half-dragon rebel?" Yugi hissed, baring his fangs.

"I've got a bright idea," snapped Mai with a sharpness to her voice that sought to strike. "How about you tell us why you brought us here?"

Scott stepped closer, his footsteps like the cracking of pillars. "The persistence of your existence here is meaningless. I dictate everything that happens in this realm. I control everything, including your only means of ever getting home. Allow me to demonstrate."

He spread his palms wide, and light pooled on the ground at his feet. It swirled and spread to a vast circle, buzzing with white and green static. "When you entered this world, your souls were pulled from your bodies to create the avatars you use as bodies here. Your true selves were left behind…" Then an image surfaced in the light, swirling with the magic to cross the dimensions, and the resistance was suddenly looking down on a laboratory room as though viewing it through a hole in the ceiling.

"I-It's us!" stammered Ryou. There the five of them were, laying where they had collapsed after their souls had been pulled into the game realm. Off to the side was a separate image showing where Mai was sprawled on the floor, her invitation to the test trial laying beside her like some letter bearing the grimmest news. The metal cuffs still attached to their wrists throbbed with mint green light in twisted mimicry of a heartbeat as electrical signals from their bodies pulsed back to the main computer hub: the duel disk-shaped device on the center table.

Shimon and Fizdis stared at the metallic marvels in the image, awe-stricken. "What sorcery is this…?" murmured Shimon.

Téa looked up from the scene, her face pale in the upward glow of light. "Why are you showing us this?"

"You seem to think that all you seek shall be granted if you can get out of this world. That everything will go away, if you can only find the way out," Scott said, the voids of his eyes turning like galaxies. "I am merely clearing that false truth up."

"No…" Joey turned to Yugi and saw him take a step back from the image. Flickers of fear gathered in his eyes. "No, it can't…"

Joey followed his gaze into the image. The real-life Yugi was laying facedown on the shining metal floor, disheveled lightning bangs shielding his eyes from view. Joey shook his head slightly, not used to seeing the "normal" Yugi… and that's when he realized what Yugi was so afraid of. In truth they were barely visible, so faint as to be marked off as the brain supplying the images by habit, but no; they were really there. Coiled at his feet, glistening at his shoulders, the translucent legacy of Slypher was present in the real world. The swirls of light forming the image almost appeared to be the shimmering of solidified scales. The Yugi beside him was breathing shakily, his eyes locked on that image of himself.

"Your soul was transformed here in this realm," said the voice of deepest space. "Should you return to that one, your curse will follow you."

"No!" Téa broke through his daze and took Yugi's hand between her own. "Yugi, it isn't true. He's just trying to hurt you!" Yugi looked up at her but couldn't get his voice to work. There was a great fear and grief in his eyes, and everything else around him was just something far away.

"_Am I?_" Scott watched the hopeless expression on his face with hunger. "And what reason would I have to do that? I can do far worse to you, here and now…"

"Oh yeah?" Joey stomped a foot forward, and the image beneath it shattered into a million drifting pinpricks of light. "I don't think so! We'll take you down right here!"

The dimming light cast misshapen shadows upon Scott's face. "I didn't mean physical damage… No, no, I have the power to damage your very minds…"

Suddenly both Yugi and Ryou shuddered. Their attentions snapped to Scott, the color draining from their faces. A heavy weight tightened on Ryou's chest as he looked through the darkness at something only he could see. "An aura of magic," he breathed, "So strong…" He was staring at Scott as though a giant monster was rising up behind him, and Yugi's tail started to swish fitfully at the rising acidity of the room.

'_Mahado?_' he tested. His skin was starting to feel the burning magic and he bit back a hissed breath.

'_Be careful, Soulmaster. These energies are moving in around you, and are encircling both you and your friends_.' Then a crack of lightning resounded over the link between them. '_Soulmaster!_'

'_Mahado, what is it?_'

Static crackled over his voice. '_We are being cut off from you–!_'

'_He's suppressing our presence with his aura!_' said Mana frantically. Her voice had the fuzzy quality of an old overhead speaker. '_He's going to do something – Yugi, be careful–!_'

With a snap Yugi was cut free from them and his heart fell silent. He grew colder on the inside without their warm magical presence residing so near his heart. Around him the acid magic was steadily growing in intensity, burning through his nerves, almost boring holes in his very spirit. The others were oblivious to this feeling, but Ryou seemed to be able to see it, for his eyes kept flicking about the room as the aura spread.

"Hey, you two," Mai looked at them worriedly, "you're doing that freaky magic thing again, and I don't like it. What's going on?"

"He's... He's extended his aura," Ryou answered. The tightening pressure made his breathing forced. "It's all around us... curling in... Like it wants inside us…"

Yugi's eyes flew open. He realized, now, the malicious truth of Scott's plan. He had the supreme power in this game, the power to reprogram the elements within its woven lines of code. He, and his friends, and even their monsters were all elements interacting within the realm. If he changed the nature of the programs governing their actions here... he could change _them_: the way they looked, the way they acted, even go so far as to rewrite their personalities.

Scott noticed the realization on his face. "Ah, so you see it," he said with the tone of one holding ultimate victory in his hands. "The grand conclusion to our meeting, one where I am left supreme."

Yugi quickly snarled, "It won't work! Our hearts are stronger than your false godhood!"

Scott chuckled darkly; the acid aura squeezed suddenly tighter, enough to make Yugi choke and stumble back, his hand gripping his throat. "_Let me share something with you_." The walls pulled their weight to the center of the room where he stood. The heavy gravity rooted their legs to the spot. "The human mind is a lot more fragile than you might think. You'd be surprised how few people have a clear and unwavering idea of 'self.' The idea that one is who one is, and that nothing can influence that fact beyond what is desired… Without this will, this strength of mind and heart, the mind is easily manipulated, even shattered.

"The only thing tying you to this world right now is your mind." Malice glinted on grinning teeth. "And I can control anything here."

Invisible magic turned solid, became iridescent lines of coding twisted around them. Like coiling snakes they wound around them, layering, until a pillar of light engulfed them and blinded them with its sheen. The magic struck quickly and gave them no time to react. Once it had surrounded its victims the wall collapsed inward, pressing suffocating magic against their skin. Scott's laughter in his ears, Yugi felt the whole world falling away to leave him alone in his own little void.

The magic adhered to him, try as he might to struggle free. As he struggled fruitlessly, the feeling came over him that maybe there was no reason to fight back at all. He wasn't supposed to fight back. Nothing was wrong with the situation; everything was under control. Yes, everything was functioning with perfect order, never once acting unfavorably, never once deviating from _his_ ideals.

Just as this sense of secure acceptance had almost taken hold of him, he snapped back to himself. Scott was tampering with his mind! Trying to get him to give in, to stop going against what he wanted of them. Streams of data and numbers and electrical signals flew before his mind's eye, thrown into a wash of white from the light blinding him. His nerves were flying, receiving so many directions and programmed actions that his mind was numbed and unable to think. The codes were penetrating his veins and seeping inside him, where they were latching on to whatever they could and altering the nature of his being. He thought he could hear a low voice, somewhere in the distance, telling him things he couldn't understand…

_NO!_ he screamed mentally. The magic was trying to reconfigure his soul and redefine his persona. Things like his bravery, and staunch protection of his friends, being replaced by uncertainty and the obedience to obey what he was told to do… Though Mahado and Mana were dulled in his heart, the desire to react and preserve his shining ideals was so strong that his heart swelled with magical energy. He would _not_ let himself be reprogrammed; he would _not_ allow himself to be controlled again!

A vicious snarl unlike anything he had ever uttered escaped his throat, and with all his strength his ripped his arm away from the invading magic. His hand broke free and burst into the dark room, where Scott stood watching his spell take effect. He could feel the rebellion of Yugi's mind to his reprogramming, and witnessed the rapid rise in the strength of his captive.

"So I thought," he murmured, as the minds of his friends grew dimmer. "Your mind gained strength in repulsing its last influences, and your heart shines greater with the guilt and duty you bear. Your sense of self is strong, for you have so many others to define it for you…"

Forcing strength upon his tail, Yugi slashed hard at the wall of codes encircling him. With a crash that sounded almost like the agonized screeches of writhing serpents he was cut free from the magic and released to the dark air. A strange violet aura, the color of his soul, blazed from his form and gave off immense energy in the form of dense magic and crystal hope and roiling ferocity. Yugi, seemingly unaware that it was there given that he was still dazzled by the spell, leapt at the nearest pillar of light with claws outstretched, tearing, fighting to free his friends from the coercion of Scott.

KZZ! With a blast of electricity, another spool of coding unraveled, and Mai fell limp into his arms.

"Nnh… My head…" Yugi set her down and jumped at the next target. The swirling layers of coding hissed and melted into the air at contact with the violet aura flaring from him, for his strength of heart could not be overridden by their woven deception. A hole appeared under his touch, allowing him to reach in and grab the arm of his friend, and pull –

Another blast of electricity sent sparks dazzling on the floor. Tristan was free.

"Fabulous, just fabulous." Scott watched Yugi leap for another of his friends, his eyes brightening with haunted light. "I didn't think I'd even have to participate at all."

Yugi didn't hear Scott speak. His only thought was to reach his friends and rip them free of their bindings. Fizdis and Shimon were lying unconscious on the floor beyond; they were pure programs of this game, without anything from the real world to influence, so Scott's magic did little more to them than render them immobile. Hissing iridescence parted under his touch, and he spied within the whirling light shoulder-length brown hair fluttering weakly. He snarled, ripping with claws and tail, and reached out to her, to pull her free to be with him –

Then a crushing wave of magic slammed into him, knocking all the air out of him in a forced cry. He fell to his knees, completely winded, and it felt as if the whole ocean had surged against him with its weight lashing upon his frame. The aura surrounding him sputtered and died as the pressure constricted against his strength. The hole in the wall of light scarred over, and she was gone from his sight.

"_No!_" he cried in desperation. "_Téa!_"

"You are too late," said Scott murderously, deep and low in his throat. The white of his eyes flashed as the remaining three pillars of magic turned black as night. "My reprogramming is complete. These three have been reconfigured to the tasks I have for them. Their thoughts and actions are mine."

Tristan and Mai had recovered from their daze and snapped their attention to Yugi. He had collapsed onto all fours on the marble floor, breathing forcefully; he couldn't move, as it took all of his strength to bear the weight of the magic on his back. The two of them were instantly at his side but the dread on his face had their blood running cold.

"_Téa_," he said weakly, his voice strained, "_Joey, Ryou_…"

"You are nothing." Scott stepped towards them, eyes bright as starlit cosmos, looming stories above them as they remained paralyzed in their horror. "You have lost the support of the people, for they have seen you for what you are and will spread the word of the resistance demon. You have lost your purpose, for the populace no longer supports your goals in war and has reestablished loyalty to the Empire. You have lost the allegiance of three of your own, here, to me.

"The people, the land, and your own allies are against you. You have nothing left to fall back on. _You have nothing left_. So tell me, Yugi," Scott's eyes bore straight into him, spanning the voids of space, and gales of wind seemed to penetrate every inch of his body at his next words:

"What will you do?"

Yugi's eyes were broken; the heart behind them, shattered.

He gasped in a breath against the ocean, and forced all of the strength of his heart to one end. "_Mahado!_"

Whirling gold light blazed, driving back shadows to cower behind Scott, as the five of them were picked up by magic and whisked away into nothing. The hall now empty, Scott turned his back to the doorway.

All the world was his.

* * *

With a flash of golden light and wind, the teleportation spell dumped its passengers on a hill outside the city. They landed with an unceremonious thud on the grass, bits of data and shadow still blurred in their minds.

"Ugh… Where are we…?" Mai groaned. Tristan pulled himself up from the grass and looked blearily to where Yugi had landed, but he had already scrambled up and was hastily climbing the rocky outcropping at the top of the hill.

"Yugi?" He reached the top of the rock and perched there, his tail wrapped around the boulder, his claws grating granite as tears began spilling from his shattered eyes. He stared at the capital city glowering in the distance beneath the shadow of Scott, and cried. He had lost them.

He had lost _her_.

* * *

Notes:

(One) – Heartless, anyone?

(Two) – Dun, dun, _duuuuunnn_. Who do you think it is?

SC: ANGST ANGST ANGST. Here comes the horrible times! You thought it was rough for these guys with Slypher around. It's about to get a lot worse.

I reread several of my older chapters while I was writing this, particularly Crucial Battle. That chapter rocked. Why don't my new ones rock like that?

If you read it, you'll also see a lot of Vathara influences in there. I tried to keep that to a minimum.

Thank you for the wonderful reviews on the last chapter! When I first checked back and saw that it had three reviews, I thought, "Oh, it's my usual people." When I looked, it was _three different people_, none of which was a usual reviewer! It made me incredibly happy.

So basically, I would like you all to review again. I didn't realize I had so many different people reading! It really has increased my enthusiasm. And Pikpik: Yes, please. (dies)

Thank you for reading the chapter! Please review!

Word count: 13,691. (Holy frick.)


	19. Spellcaster, Part I

SC: I've been waiting _forever_ to get back to this place.

You may be wondering why this took so long to get posted. There are two answers. One of them is senior year of high school. It's busy as heck. The second is the fact that this chapter started approaching fifty pages, _without being near the end_. I therefore decided to split it in half.

I also decided to change the angle of the chapter. I took out a bunch of stuff and changed the mood… The earlier versions were more typical me, but much more boring. Hopefully this version is acceptable.

I did complete rehauls of the chapter at least three times.

So I better hope it's good now.

**Spellcaster, Part I**

_After suffering heavy damage at the hands of Scott again, the resistance splits up to lose their pursuers. Yugi and the resistance have gone into hiding in order to escape Scott's forces and the spiteful populace. Showing absolutely no mercy, Scott hatches his next plot. To force Yugi into the open, Scott dispatches Téa, still under his mind control, with an army of her own. On edge of the Beasty Badlands, she prepares to perform a forbidden magic spell that will destroy the world. And in this magic ritual, Téa must offer herself as tribute. Hearing this, and fully aware that it is a trap set by Scott, Yugi sets off to save Téa. _(1)

They were going back _there_ again.

As if everything else that had already happened hadn't been complete crap. As if losing that numbskull Joey along with Téa and Ryou hadn't rent their hearts to pieces. As if the knowledge that the entire continent was would soon be in violent uproar over the resistance wasn't enough to make him fear for their lives. Now, he faced the knowledge that they were going back _there_.

It wasn't safe for the resistance to travel as a group anymore, no matter if their ranks had shrunk from eight to five. As a group they were more conspicuous and liable to be spotted. It had been hard enough just to steal the supplies they needed. Yes, _steal_: given their current situation, there had been no other choice but for one person to slip back into town and nab just enough food for the group before being caught and no doubt put to death on sight. As Yugi had said, desperate times called for desperate measures.

They were to split up and meet at a rendezvous point. Take different paths, stay out of sight, and don't stop for anything; just get as fast as they could _there_. Their only choice for regrouping was the one place that no one, neither Imperial nor citizen, would be looking for them, and that place was: the Beasty Badlands.

Tristan _hated_ that place more than anything.

The blistering heat and freezing cold had been pretty bad. The way the whole place felt like it was alive and out to get you was worse. For the entire duration of their last visit Tristan had felt like there was something eerie over his shoulder, something that watched and stayed just out of sight when he turned back to look. It made his insides quiver just thinking about the place as he and Gazelle sprinted through strands of trees in the moonlight. They were walking into the biggest trash dump of magic and evil there was in this virtual realm, _willingly_ at that. He was worried he wouldn't even be able to find his friends once he got there – the place was so vast and empty, he could wander around for days without seeing them. The land itself seemed so malicious that he wouldn't be surprised if the ground opened up and swallowed them into its starving depths. It was a terrifying thought, but it felt completely possible in the Badlands.

Something else was bothering him, too: something that had been lodged in a back corner of his mind when the drama at Sygh-Varths had unfolded. It was certainly bad news to him, stacked onto the already towering pile of misfortune for the resistance. Tristan's concern was that Slypher's Orb, that glinting ruby treasure that he swore still flashed with spite at him from around Joey's neck, was missing. _That_ knowledge had certainly made his jaw drop, when Joey had hurriedly whispered it to him after they were dragged out of the inn. Neither of them knew where it could be: Joey had noticed its absence during the fisticuffs with the guards, and all the time the resistance was being dragged through town Tristan had searched the train of soldiers, looking for the glint of a chain around one's neck or a bulge in one's pocket. Nothing.

He found it painfully ironic that he was heading back to _that place_. It was where Yugi had first found the orb. How could they have known, back then, the troubles it would bring with it? Tristan still had nightmares about it sometimes, always with the hiss of laughter and the crash of thunder floating through the darkness. The thought of that harmless-looking glass orb being in the hands of someone else terrified him to no end. A small portion of his rational brain pointed out that he shouldn't worry, because if Yugi was the only one who could use it, and Yugi didn't have it, then what was there to fear? Tristan swallowed his doubts but was only half-convinced. It was too hard not to imagine an ashen-faced Scott looming over its living flame and laughing balefully.

He hadn't told any of the other resistance members about its absence, and he doubted that it would do much good to inform them. There was already too much on their plates as it was. The resistance didn't have the resources to seek out the orb's location anyway, and to go after it now would put them in unnecessary danger. For now, they needed to fall back and reorganize before they could do anything productive. There was just one problem: they were going to the Beasty Badlands. There were bad things to look out for there besides Imperials, like roving fiends and vicious weather; or, he thought with narrowed eyes, fierce magic, which could plague a certain scaly friend of his.

He grit his teeth against the cold night wind. Tristan hated magic. He hated the way it messed with Yugi and Ryou, and he hated how sometimes (more often than not in Yugi's case) it hurt them in ways he couldn't imagine. Tristan could always tell when one of them got that _vibe_. It usually took Ryou a few moments to notice the presence magic; but Yugi, he knew in an instant. There was always a shift in his eyes as his gaze slid to something far in the distance, and Tristan had quickly learned that when Yugi zoned out it meant trouble. In the past it had proved life-saving to have someone let them know when magic was on the rise, but with this last encounter he was starting to get a little freaked out by everything. Yugi divining the presence of demons, Scott corrupting the souls of his friends… that was beyond human magic. It was beyond anything anyone of mortal soul could comprehend – and those of magic soul were starting to show the rest of them the more ominous layers the magical plane contained. Their world was getting darker, and magic was pulling the shade.

It had felt so _wrong_. When Scott's magic had enveloped him, at first he couldn't tell what was going on; the only thing he felt was the immense internal sense of _wrong_, which clashed with the strangely calm sense of _everything's fine_ rising forcibly in his thoughts. This dichotomy only served to unnerve him further, to make it easier to lose bits of what was real within the unreal. He hadn't realized anything was happening to him at all until a wave of heat washed over him and a blast of amethyst burned through his eyes. Yugi had released him, had driven off the magic and its influences, and only when it wasn't there did Tristan experience reality. That exact instant, that immediate sense of the freedom from corruption that came; that was the first time that anything had felt truly _real_, and it had thrown his whole paradigm of the world out of whack. He wasn't exactly sure if it could ever go back.

It had been unsettling enough just for him, coming out of the spell like that. What did that mean for Joey and the others? They had been completely overwritten by Scott. Even if they expelled the magic, would anything of their true personality remain afterward? If they were still themselves beneath the magic, would the gale of reality that hit them when they came out of it shove them out of their normal perception, inherently changing their nature? It was a thought that struck him somewhere in his heart and in his throat at the same time.

He couldn't know the answer… He couldn't know if their friends would ever return to them.

He sighed over the wind as Gazelle raced through the rapidly thinning trees. He saw the mountains beginning to leer at him from ahead: soon they would be in the Badlands. For now he would just have to focus on surviving through their stay in that hellish desert before worrying about things that were beyond his senses. Somehow, he mused bitterly, he knew it would only get rougher from here.

* * *

As Seiyaryu flapped high in the night wind towards the Badlands, tears slid down Yugi's face.

He couldn't help it. He had forced them away while giving the order to split up to his friends but as soon as he was alone again his thoughts had nowhere to go but back to Sygh-Varths. In his head everything kept replaying, highlighting the most devastating moments from a thousand different angles. It took all his effort to keep the desperation from overcoming him entirely and breaking him into sodden pieces, soon to rust under salt and water. Even so, he couldn't stop the tears.

They had told him it wasn't his fault. Mahado and Mana were telling him that now: radiating a soothing feeling to coax him into relaxing, but he didn't yield. He knew he was to blame for letting everything happen. He had been careless with their situation, and had allowed the success of the resistance to infect him. It had been his idea, emboldened by that success, to take the fight to Scott and go to Sygh-Varths. He had okayed the celebration of their victory without the thought of staying on guard in case of a surprise attack. All of his mistakes had lined them up perfectly into Scott's hands. He had failed to see it coming, failed in his basic duties as a leader, and the resistance had suffered because of it.

"…_A true genius wins the battle before it's even fought_…" Scott's voice echoed mockingly in his head.

'_You can't blame yourself for everything_,' eased Mana. '_We were off guard too. The only one you should blame is Scott. It was his evil_.'

True, Scott had been the perpetrator, but that didn't mean that his was the only evil. The resistance was paying for Yugi's evil too. With each rumor and spiteful whisper hissed, news of the so-called "demon" would spread, and the populace would withdraw further from the resistance's efforts. He hadn't reacted to their jeers then, in tow of the guards; but on the inside each word felt like it had severed a heartstring. It hurt all the more because of its truth: they were right. Yugi was a monster. The resistance was suffering the loss of their reputation because of him…

The way Scott had dragged him forward into the public eye after he had worked so hard to remain unseen… It had definitely been an act of cruel mockery on Scott's part, but it was still true that Yugi had ultimately created that situation for himself. No matter what anyone said, that much _was_ his fault.

"_Wretched_–"

"_Vile_–"

He had mauled that soldier – tried to. He had never even given the impulse to _attack_ a second thought, and only after he had been caught and bound did he even realize the extent to which that impulse had gone. Yes, it had been self-defense. Yes, he would have fought back even if he were a normal human. But as soon as the fight came on he had snarled and lunged like a beast – like a monster.

"_Truly a demon_–"

Were they right? Was he a wretch, a vicious _animal_, whose curse would follow him to the outside world? It broke his heart to think about it. Even his friends sometimes shivered in his presence.

His friends.

"Joey… Téa… Ryou…"

It didn't matter that Scott had been the one to invoke the personality rewrite. To Yugi, it was his own fault for being unable to save his friends from its invasive magic. Mai and Tristan had told him again and again that he had saved _them_ and that if he hadn't had the power to resist its influence then _all_ of them would have been under the control of Scott right now; but to Yugi, saving some of his friends meant nothing if he couldn't save them all.

"…_Their thoughts and actions are mine. Your own allies are against you_…"

A flicker of hopeful light sparkled on amethyst resting against his chest. '_Do not worry, Soulmaster_. _There will be a way to free your friends. We will fight to release them from Scott's control_.'

That was just it. The resistance couldn't fight. Not anymore. Too much had happened all at once – the battle to win back their dragons had been draining enough, and then the immediate battle with the endless swarm of demons after that… all within a span of just over forty-eight hours. Never mind their emotional distress; they were too worn physically to fight off anything bigger than a house cat. Their resources were stretched thinly, for with the depletion of their gold reserve from the celebration the night before, and with little hope now of ever gaining any of it back, they had to rely on their meager stock of medicine to keep their forces going. Everything needed to be rationed – which meant that none of their monsters had been healed since the battle with the demons, and were forced to chug on despite their injuries. It could take weeks for the resistance to reach its full strength again, and by then there might not be any hope of ever winning them back…

"…_You have nothing left to fall back on_. _You have nothing left_…"

Yugi half-hissed as a fresh throb of despair clenched his throat. He had been so close. He had _seen_ her, had been close enough to brush her fluttering hair behind her ear. _So close_, and he had failed. He had let Scott take her, along with Joey and Ryou. His heart was listless with guilt, guilt of the worst kind: the knowledge that he had failed his friends, but that they, under Scott's control, had no knowledge of his failure. To them he was still innocent, still capable of saving them, and this fact dug hollows in his soul. He had sinned, failed them so miserably that they might never even _know_… and for that, he would never be able to atone. He could never be charged with protecting his friends again, not after this…

"…_You have lost your purpose_…"

Seiyaryu turned its head and growled at Yugi softly. Yugi looked up, silver ringing his eyes, and met his dragon's starlit gaze. Seiyaryu purred, almost morosely, pleading for Yugi to regain his strength of heart. Without that, without his dauntless determination, there would be no hope of ever saving his friends. The sound echoed in all of his senses at once and brushed against the bleeding scars to his heart. Yugi could only stare, something in him touched by the faith his dragon had set to him.

He leaned forward to stroke Seiyaryu's neck, and uttered his own quiet growl in reply, one that expressed gratitude and _Do not worry_. Seiyaryu purred again, like the coo of a dove, sapphire eyes still locked with Yugi's expectantly. His gaze flickered behind tears and guilt; why should anyone trust him anymore, knowing the things he had done…?

"_Tell me, Yugi: What will you do?_"

He spurred his dragon toward the clawed peaks scraping the sky on the horizon, Seiyaryu's clarion roar echoing across the night.

* * *

Mai had never actually been to the Badlands. During her escapades with Joey in the Black Dragon Squad, she had come close to its border, arriving just in time to save Joey from having his head handed to him, but its interior was a sinister mystery that stayed out of sight in the half-whispered tales she heard among the others. Essentially, her knowledge told her that it was a vast desert, a wasteland, but there was something about the way everyone seemed to shiver when they spoke of it that made her think that there must be something supernatural going on there, too. Everyone she knew practically squirmed whenever it was mentioned, but they could never say anything about _why_ it was so bad other than they just had a creepy feeling every time they went there.

She supposed she would find out for herself soon enough.

She certainly had been feeling strange ever since she had left Sygh-Varths. She felt… out of place, like old things she had long forgotten had been stirred up to the surface of her spirit. She was still whole, and still herself, but it felt like the pieces that made her up had been tossed up in the air to land in disarray without care as to the pattern they left on the table. She had been feeling it ever since she had been ripped free of Scott's magic. It was an odd feeling, enough to drive Mai beside herself with the knowledge that everything she was feeling _was_ herself.

Not wanting to get lost in logical paradoxes, Mai turned her head and looked back at Fizdis. She was peacefully asleep (or as asleep as she could be while flying at high speed on a cold night), her arms wrapped around one of Curse of Dragon's spines. She had ridden along because Mai didn't know her way around the Badlands, and Mai was partly glad of this, because she didn't like the idea of Fizdis running around by herself in these hostile times. The kid meant something to her, as did all of the members of their motley group.

Before, she wouldn't have considered that group of Domino teens to be friends. Now, though, with everyone treating her so well and fighting as much for her as for each other, she had come to accept them as true friends. They really did _care_ for her, which was more than she could say about some adult acquaintances she had. They may have all been kids compared to her age-wise, but they were all incredible.

Especially Joey. She didn't know how a kid so reckless with his own safety could be so good at preserving the safety of others. Despite his tough act he had a big heart, and he never failed to amaze her with his incredible loyalty to his friends. He was a goof that saw to the good spirits of others; he was a kamikaze when it came to doing the right thing. It had made her feel warm and light on the inside, knowing that she was one he was willing to fight for…

Her eyes narrowed swiftly. "Guess Scott took care of that one, didn't he." That bastard; he had done exactly the thing that would hurt them the most. The devastation had ripped through them like shockwaves: losing Téa had all but snapped Yugi in half, Tristan was more distraught about losing his brawling buddy than he'd let on, and Fizdis had been silent the whole time, mostly for Ryou, for after Yugi the white-haired youth was the one who had been closest to her. As villains went, Mai would rank him high on the list of most despicable.

What a way to go about it, too. Scott had calculated everything perfectly to line them up into his plan. While Yugi berated himself for not seeing it sooner, Mai had thought that maybe it was pointless. Maybe Scott was too good for even the great Yugi to outwit. There were ruses within ruses, and plots within each battle. He had led them around time and again – so who knew where he might be leading them now? She didn't even want to think about it.

With a sigh she looked down at the land below. Life was rapidly dwindling from it as they neared the Badlands, with trees and brush thinning out into rocky ground and weeds. She felt like the life was slipping out of her, too, thinning, leaving bare spots on her heart. She looked ahead at the wasteland approaching, her eyes like river stones, and felt something in her throat clench. Would she ever even see him again…?

"Living up to its descriptions?"

Mai nearly had a heart attack at the sound of his voice. She whipped around and saw Yugi and Seiyaryu flying above her, their paths converging now that they were nearing the Badlands. Yugi had the familiar half-glaring focus in his gaze, but even in the moonlight she could see the redness around his eyes that meant he too was fighting back tears.

"The Badlands, you mean?" she asked. "I suppose. It looks pretty nasty at night." The cracks in the land below looked to her like fiendish tattoos on the leathery hide of some sleeping monster.

Seiyaryu swooped and came in line beside her. "It looks nasty all the time," he said. His eyes narrowed suddenly and he rubbed his arm, as if it were sore. Mai quirked an eyebrow, and he explained: "I'm still feeling some residual magic from Sygh-Varths. It snaps at me every so often."

"Residual?"

"After effects of the spell. Magic like that… It tends to stir up things in one's spirit and toss them around like a salad. Things that were buried return to the surface; things that were commonplace are shuffled around… It can leave you feeling jittery for a while, before it wears off." He turned his gaze forward again. "There are some sparks jumping around inside me, but I think that's just from his programming magic." Mai saw a faint flicker in his eyes, like inward concern, though it may well have been the moonlight glinting off his still wet eyes.

She let out her breath slowly. "In that case, I'm feeling it too," Mai said faintly. "I haven't felt right since we left Sygh-Varths…"

Silence dropped over them. After a painful minute Mai glanced at him again. "…What are we going to do?"

Yugi took in a steadying breath. "I… I don't know."

"If Joey were here, he'd be raving about some harebrained suicide tactic right now…" she murmured.

He nodded distantly. "Yeah..." They both fell silent, taken into battle to keep from crying in front of each other.

At the edge of the world, the sun was beginning to peek at the new day, though its light meant nothing to them. They had been on the run nonstop since yesterday, and every fiber in them was practically dead with exhaustion. The stirring glow of the sun warmed their backs as they flew towards the still-dark center of the Badlands to the west. When the sun began its climb into morning they reached a point in the wide desert plain and landed, their dragons too tired to go any further. Anyone coming from any direction would see them standing there, so empty was the land around them.

Mai tried to stifle her yawn and shifted on her feet. "Not even nine o'clock and I already feel the heat starting to come on. Urgh…"

"You haven't seen the worst of it." Yugi turned to Fizdis, who was standing off to the side with a touch of sadness in her posture. He felt a pang of pity and asked, "Fizdis? You're all right?"

She looked up at him, and Yugi noticed something odd about her expression. When he had spoken a crease had risen in her brow, just barely, but enough to tincture her usual brightness. A shift of her legs, and the slack in her posture tightened into seriousness. "I'm fine. Just tired." Yugi acknowledged with a nod but silently wondered why her actions felt so strange to him.

"You're tired? You had a nap. Yugi and I, _we're_ tired," said Mai through another yawn. "I could almost go to sleep standing up."

"I wouldn't just yet. Look!" Yugi pointed up at the sky. Golden scales glinted in the new sunlight; Kaiser Dragon was drawing close, Shimon atop it.

"Looks like Wonderboy's here too." Mai rolled her eyes at an approaching cloud of dust, which gradually took the form of Gazelle and Tristan sprinting toward them across the parched ground.

"You're late," Yugi half-teased as Gazelle collapsed in a panting heap and Tristan leapt off.

"Easy for _you_ to say, Mister 'Hey-I-Can-Just-Fly-Over-the-Mountains.' Gazelle and I had to climb!" He fell back onto the ground, propped up by his palms, heaving. "It's over. I'm dead. If anything else happens today, my head will explode."

"Good morning," said a voice, and wisps of fog curled around the group despite the sunlight shining down on them.

"Waaah!"

Despite his exhaustion Yugi managed a chuckle. "Easy, Tristan. I don't think he's here to be of trouble. I thought I might see you here," he said then to the fog. "Do you have something to say to me?"

"Indeed." The fog wisped a few feet away from them, and solidified into the form of the Illusory Gentleman. His mask shone with enough reflected sunlight to make them all squint, but the rest of his form seemed eerily dark in the morning light as the shadows clinging to him resisted the coming day.

Mai gaped dumbly. "Okay, now I get why you guys said this place was freaky."

Mahado simmered within his gem, a string of half-woven spells at his fingertips. '_A fiend met in this land is surely a threat–!_'

'_No_,' Yugi eased. '_I set him to this task the last time we met. He means no harm to us_.' Mahado withdrew his presence but kept wary, not thoroughly convinced.

"Um… hi?" said Tristan awkwardly.

"Forgive my intrusion," said the Gentleman, dipping his neck in a slight bow of apology. "I've come to complete my duty." His manner, polished and proud, had not wavered despite submission to Yugi's authority. Yugi stepped to the fore of the group and the Gentleman nodded at him. "You wished to be alerted if any should become active in this area?"

"I did." Yugi scrutinized the fiend, his eyes reflected back at him in the metallic face guard he peered into. His suspicions of the enemy were already humming alongside the crackling in his nerves. "Why? Has someone come through here?"

"Not just traveled through. A sizable Imperial regiment has taken up residence in the castle along the ravine. They arrived unannounced, almost out of nowhere, earlier this morning."

"The Imperials are _here?_" echoed Tristan incredulously. "What the heck are they doing in this place?"

"Isn't it obvious?" said Mai. The stacked misfortunes of the resistance lingered in the tired circles under her eyes. "They knew we'd be here. We've been outsmarted. Scott knew we'd be coming out here to avoid him and now he's already set up for a fight."

"I don't think that's necessarily the case," said Shimon carefully. "If they knew we were here, they wouldn't have holed up in a castle. They'd have come looking for us, or waited for us to settle into some outpost, and attacked us. They know we can't handle a direct assault right now. If they were aware of our presence, they would have seized on the opportunity to crush us altogether."

Yugi agreed with this observation. Though the Empire tended towards sneaky tactics, this failure to strike while the resistance was so weak was nearly uncouth. Still, if the Imperials didn't know of the resistance's presence, then what were they doing out here?

"What do you know of their forces?" Yugi asked the Gentleman. "Their purpose in coming?"

"I have sent my comrades, the Neck Hunter and the Archfiend of Gilfer, to spy on the castle for further information as we speak. What I know from my first stakeout is limited to a mere glimpse of their operation. From what I saw, there were perhaps a dozen men present outside the castle, working around its perimeter. From my vantage point I couldn't tell exactly what sort of work they were doing. Certainly it looked to be unusual work for a military unit."

Yugi crossed his arms as he took in the information. What could Scott be planning to do here, if he wasn't after the resistance? He had thought that eliminating the resistance had been Scott's only aim, but now he was suspicious as to whether or not that were truly the case. The Gentleman continued: "For a time, I wondered if it was even a military excursion at all. They didn't seem to have any monsters with them, and they had a woman with them who appeared to be giving them orders. I know the military has no female officers."

On went the light bulb over their heads. Five pairs of eyes widened, thinking the same thing at once, flashing back to the dark hall of white marble. "A _woman_, you said?" Tristan asked abruptly.

The Gentleman did a double take at his severity. "Yes… Though I must admit, she seemed – off. Even the Imperial soldiers acting under her seemed to hurry away from her whenever they could. I myself could sense something strange about her manner…"

"Did you see what she looked like?"

"No. Nothing that could distinguish her identity. I was too far away to see much of anything, and her back was turned to me."

Tristan immediately looked over at Yugi, anticipating his reaction. It was a stretch, and they had little to go on description-wise to make certain, but it was definitely possible. The woman the Gentleman saw could be Téa, sent under Scott's control. If there was any chance at all that it was she, he knew, Yugi would take it. Tristan could see these thoughts already forming in his head, and knew well enough their fallacy.

A strange emotion had seeped into Yugi's eyes. His heart felt strangely light and buoyant, despite the heaviness of his body from the exhaustion of their escape. It rose on hope: could it be _her_, sent to this desert wasteland under Scott's orders? The bizarre presence of a woman within the Imperial army struck him, and he knew there could be no other explanation. It _had_ to be Téa, sent by Scott to perform whatever task he needed of her. They had the chance to save her from Scott's clutches, to free her and draw her close and never let anything touch her again…

_No_. He was no fool. No matter what his heart dared to hope, he knew the evidence was too weak to assume anything. Even so, he couldn't just let the matter drop… She was too important to give up on so quickly.

"It's gotta' be a trap," Tristan said loudly, enough to bring Yugi back up into reality. "It's something to lure us into attacking so that they can crush us once and for all." He was speaking generally, not really to combat Yugi, but to plant dissent for the idea of storming the castle in the others. "They came out and made a bunch of noise to see if we'd notice. If we react, they're ready to take us down."

Yugi's eyes narrowed, a thread of anger creeping into him. Sparks flickered up his spine and singed the edges of his nerves. "Even so, their actions are suspicious. The fact that they don't appear to have monsters with them is one factor. Whatever their purpose in being out here, it doesn't seem to be to assault us. That leads one to wonder what could be so important to them, other than hunting us down, that they would come all the way out here to do it. It could be that what they're planning is something dangerous."

Scott was up to something. Yugi could feel it coming, like the tensing of the ground before an earthquake splits it asunder. There was something he was after, something on the larger scale. The resistance was nothing but a handful of flies buzzing in his way, preventing him from reaching his goal. They had been too pestering for him to accomplish anything before, but now that he had severely weakened them with the chain of events up to Sygh-Varths, he was free to pursue his real aims. Whatever was going on in that castle was bad, maybe worse than anything they had previously encountered.

"We're outnumbered," Tristan countered. "We're also tired and weak. Why should we risk it in confrontation?"

Inwardly, Tristan was beginning to panic. Was Yugi seriously thinking of risking their lives over something so trivial? Sure, the Imperials were being uncharacteristic in their actions, but they were doing nothing more than kicking around rocks in front of the castle. He could see nothing that would suggest anything dangerous in their actions. There was no reason, no evidence, to fear anything grander than that at stake. Tristan eyed Yugi warily; could he have been using his rationale as a ruse, a means of investigating the identity of the mysterious woman in league with the Imperials?

"In case you haven't noticed, we don't exactly have much left to lose. We risk more by not acting than we do by running."

"Nothing left to lose but our lives!" Tristan threw his hands up over his head. "All because _you've_ got a whim that it might be Téa with them!"

A glint of fang as Yugi's lip curled. "What if it _is_ her, and we do nothing?"

"We don't _know_ that it's her; I'd say doing nothing is better than dying over some faint chance that it is!"

Yugi's eyes flashed their edges. "They're still Imperial forces. As long as they're here, there's a chance they could discover us. We'll want the upper hand and the element of surprise if it comes to that."

Tristan angled his head to glare right back down at Yugi, despite the fact that Yugi always seemed eerily taller than everyone else when he was angry. "That still amounts to fighting! Tell me why Scott would put them out here if he didn't send them to fight us?"

"There are other means of attack than simply fighting," he snarled darkly. "We've learned that all too well here of late." Tristan flinched at Yugi's biting tone. He noticed with a touch of anxiety that Yugi's tail was curling upwards, the blade at the end held high with tension. He wasn't exactly sure what had set off Yugi's temper – this wasn't the sort of thing he would normally get worked up about, but Tristan's heart was nonetheless thumping in his chest. He gulped and was about to holler a counter statement when Mai cut him off.

"Boys!" She moved between them to strengthen her presence over them. "We don't know anything about this either way. Why don't we save the arguing until after we know more of what's going on?"

With terse glares cast at each other the two of them backed down. Yugi turned back to the Gentleman then, and Tristan noted how quickly the anger melted away from his face, as if by turning away from the argument he were looking out a different window on a different day. When he spoke his voice sounded gusty and worn. "See what more you can find out about the Imperials' activities within the castle," he told the fiend. "Do what you can to get close to them or their leader, but do not be seen. We don't want them to know we're here." The Gentleman nodded swiftly and vanished in a swirl of fog.

Tristan raised an eyebrow at Yugi's back. How weird had that been? It wasn't like Yugi to actively seek confrontation with the enemy like that. Even _with_ the potential threat of a friend in peril and a greater evil in the works, he wouldn't be so rash as to attack without information; yet he had only moved to seek that information after Tristan had argued against him. Ordinarily Tristan wouldn't have done such a thing, but he knew that if he hadn't said anything, they might well have followed that plan – what anyone could see was a suicide mission. He would follow Yugi to the ends of the earth, but not if he were being irrational.

Something was bugging the resistance leader, Tristan realized. Maybe it was just his exhaustion, or the knowledge that the Imperials were around and up to no good; or maybe it was that gnawing hope that Téa could very well be in the castle as they spoke. Tristan didn't think so. There was something else that was irritating him, something he was hiding under the surface, and he wasn't about to let their fearless leader plot and plan without knowing exactly what it was.

Yugi watched the spot where the Gentleman had been standing a moment longer, then let out his breath in a sigh. "Let's get out of this heat," he said to his comrades. "I think we've had enough excitement for one day."

* * *

Of course, there was only one place the resistance knew of that could serve as a suitable shelter, and that was the researcher base ruins they had used in their previous visit.

"Back here again too. I never wanted to see this place again, either," Tristan muttered to himself. They had returned to the covered shelter they had used last time, where traces of their occupation still lingered in the form of ashen planks. Mai was off with Fizdis being told the stories of their last adventure here, and Shimon had gone to search for anything in the way of supplies that may have been buried in the ruins. Tristan stuffed his hands in his pockets and was about to go poke around outside when he noticed Yugi sitting against the far wall of their shelter, knees brought up in front of him. He had that spaced-out and yet highly focused look that meant he was consumed with his thoughts.

Tristan remembered his previous vow to figure out what was troubling Yugi, and tentatively approached. "Yugi? You all right?"

Yugi shifted slightly at his address, carefully not looking up at him, wary of their last brief face-off. "I think you would understand it," he answered, his tail curling slowly across the sand, "if I told you I didn't like this place."

Tristan didn't need any further explanation. "This place" meant the ruins where Yugi had first found Slypher's Orb – when their troubles had unknowingly began. No doubt returning to this place had made Yugi feel depressed with the state of himself again, if staring at his hands was any clue. Tristan had sensed the guilt rolling off of him since Scott's revelation of the outside world – and of Yugi's fate without – and knew that returning to this place certainly wasn't helping alleviate the depression. Anyone would feel uncomfortable returning to the source of that much negative personal history.

Tristan sat beside him against the wall. Yugi glanced over at him, and Tristan saw in his eyes a flicker of uncertainty, like he wasn't sure if he should say what was on his mind. He noticed Yugi shiver, a good several seconds _before_ a breath of wind passed through their slipshod shelter.

Up went a mental eyebrow. "Are you cold?"

Yugi seemed to sense his intent and looked away quickly. Tristan gave him the I-know-something's-up-so-you'd-better-tell-me look, and Yugi shifted uneasily.

"A little, I guess."

Tristan hummed and let his head rest against the wall, eyes closed. "Any particular reason for the fires of hell escaping today?"

Yugi grit his teeth, staring down at his knees. "I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier. I guess the news the Imperials were in town set me on edge."

Tristan sighed heavily. "Hey, no problem. I understand. We're all pretty frazzled right now. Although you might want to be more careful next time," he said, nudging Yugi's shoulder jokingly, "or else we might have to cite you for your reptilian temper." Yugi's eyes narrowed indignantly as Tristan chuckled at his own pun.

"You don't have to make fun of me," said Yugi, who was smiling a little despite the pout on his face.

"Hey, it gets old just teasing you about your hair or your height. Besides, the way I see it, it's better to make fun of scales than to mope about having them."

Yugi's eyes widened. "Tristan?"

"Look, I know you're feeling pretty bad about what happened back in Sygh-Varths. But it's not your fault."

"Hmm." The despondent look had returned to Yugi's eyes and he sank a little lower against the wall, his tail curling against his shins.

"So what if the entire populace thinks we're evil because you look like you do?" he went on. "_We_ know you're practically a saint, and for now I'd say that that's all that matters."

"It's not fair to you, though," Yugi said softly, almost without voice. "Everything being brought upon us, all the hate… It's because of me." The dimness within their enclave made his eyes look like their former deep violet color, and Tristan felt a pang of guilt for having noticed this. "How is that fair to you, to drag you down with me…?"

There was a silent pause. Then Tristan took a breath and gathered himself within the dusty breeze that whispered through them as it passed. "No one's dragging us anywhere," he said. "Last time I checked, we were all in this voluntarily. We all want to stick with you."

"_Why_, though?" Yugi's voice rose, "Why would you want to? After all the things I've done wrong, all the trouble I'm causing you, why would you want to stay with a dem–"

He cut off quickly, realizing what he had almost said, and jerked his gaze away. Tristan put a hand on his shoulder. "You're our friend, Yugi. We can see past the scales. We can see that you're a good person. We can see that you're the only one who can beat Scott. But there's more than that: you're our friend, and we aren't going to just abandon you because other people decide we should hate you. You're worth more than that.

"Don't worry about our popularity situation, okay? We can handle it. We're willing to take the lumps with the gold."

Yugi remained silent. He almost thought that nothing he said had gotten through when, eyes still closed, Yugi said, "A saint, huh?"

Tristan grinned. "Or Napoleon."

Yugi half-smiled wryly. "As long as I don't have to speak French." Tristan laughed. He released Yugi's shoulder, and a soft snap sounded between them.

"Ouch!"

"Oh." Yugi sat up, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry about that. I'm still feeling some residual sparks from Scott's spell. I imagine magnets and other small metal objects would like me right about now. I feel like I'm charged:"

"You could have warned me," said Tristan broodingly.

"Think of it as payback for that 'reptilian temper' comment." He reached over and grabbed Tristan's arm.

_Snap-snap-snap_. "Ow! Hey! Static!"

* * *

It was some ridiculously late hour of the night, and Yugi couldn't sleep. It seemed that the static he had been feeling all day pulsed more strongly at night, as if the absence of light bolstered its boldness and encouraged it to run rampant through his nerves. His nervous system was alive and on full-throttle; his skin felt like it was crawling with insects. Mahado was dutifully keeping him company as he tried to fall asleep, but Yugi's nerves were already thin as it was. '_Go to sleep, Mahado. I feel guilty keeping you up like this_.'

'_You shouldn't feel guilty, Soulmaster. I couldn't sleep anyway, given the stress your heart is under. It would keep me awake just as the energy you feel is keeping you up_.'

'_Energy_ I _feel? What about you? Can't you feel it?_'

'_No_,' Mahado answered bluntly. '_Your senses are supremely acute: you can sense the remnants of spells that wouldn't even register under most magical means of detection. Whatever it is that you're feeling is too faint for Mana or myself to detect, though we have tried_.'

'_Great_.' Yugi growled to himself. The static flickered along his nerves and caused him to flinch involuntarily. He turned over, ignoring the painful feeling of wing bones pressing into his back. He hardly noticed it over the crawling magic, and the feeling of rough dirt scratching against his scales helped soothe his plague, if only slightly. He cracked his eyes open and caught a glimpse of the starry sky outside through a gap in the planks above him. Their peaceful glimmering felt like cruel mockery of the sleep he so desperately needed. '_You wouldn't happen to know of a way to turn off my senses, would you?_'

'_That would involve shielding your aura, but it wouldn't do you much good to try. It requires strong concentration on the part of the aura's owner, and even you could not maintain that while asleep_.'

He took that as a "No," meaning that he had no choice but to suck in his breath and bear it. Yugi growled again irately. By now it was apparent to him that the only way he would ever get to sleep would be if he passed out in exhaustion. Deciding instead to make the most of his conversation with Mahado, he was about to inquire further on the subject when a sound outside the shelter caught his attention.

He turned his focus to the outside world and caught the sound of faint huffs of breath: sobs? He'd been awake this whole time, and hadn't noticed anyone leave... Then again, his outward attention hadn't exactly been perfect while engrossed in his mental conversation. Mahado retreated further into his gem as Yugi quietly rolled over and pulled himself to his feet.

He stepped cautiously toward the opening, and the sobbing intensified. Someone was crying, but it wasn't the hysterics of someone bawling his eyes out. These sobs were soft, rigid; the kind made when keeping one's sadness to oneself, and straining against the tears despite all need for them to be expelled. He moved clear of the wooden planks jutting into the entranceway and saw pale white dusted with the darkness of night.

"Fizdis?"

He stepped carefully into her line of sight, so she could see him there. She gasped at his voice, caught off guard by the fact that she had been discovered, and hurriedly rubbed at her eyes to hide her tears. Yugi felt slightly guilty for finding her thus, alone in the cold. "You don't have to do that," he said. "If you need to cry, you should. Holding it in is bad for your heart."

"Why?" Yugi froze; he had been taking a step towards her when the question hit him. It hadn't been frail in tone like he had expected – like what was normal for Fizdis. Her voice was quiet, but only quiet in that it wasn't loud enough to wake anyone in their shelter. Otherwise it was strong; a solidity of emotion such that Yugi had never seen before in her permeated her stance, and only now did he realize how straight and dignified she had been standing throughout her tears.

He pulled his foot back and cocked his head, keeping his expression as level as he could despite the strangeness of her character at the moment. His tail curled nervously; he was slightly unsettled by this bout of uncharacteristic behavior. "Why what?"

"Why should I cry? Why does it matter?" she demanded, still keeping her voice just below normal speaking volume. Loudness had been traded for intensity, and Yugi could feel the weight of her words like stones stacked upon his heart. It would almost have been a little more settling if she were yelling at the top of her voice, like most people did when emotion seized them so fiercely. At least then maybe he would have been more prepared for her next words.

"Nothing matters, really. Nothing at all. Whether I cry, or scream, or not. After all…" She looked at him, brown eyes like solid stone walls, holding back even the rampant restlessness of the land. "_I'm not real_."

If he had been expecting anything, it wasn't that. "_What?_ What do you mea–?"

"You know what I mean." Yugi shut his mouth quickly, startled once again by her controlled anger. Somehow, the strength of her voice commanded that he listen. "I've heard you talking about it. All of you: Joey, talking about how Scott could 'delete' you at any time. Mai, about how much she wants 'out of this world.' Ryou, Téa, Tristan, and even you, mulling over your ability to return home. All of you, late at night, when you thought Shimon and I were asleep and couldn't hear…

"I ignored it at first because I didn't know what any of it meant. But now I understand it." She glared at him. "I don't know how all of it works, but I know this: you're not from this realm. You're all from some other world outside of here – a world in which, somehow, Scott created this one. This whole place is false, a lie. You six were dragged into it somehow, and this whole time you've been searching for a means to escape."

Yugi could only stare at her, agape. He knew that they had all talked about the computerized aspects of this world before… but never once had he realized what effects this knowledge could have on someone that was a part of it. "If this whole world was created, then so was I," she went on. "I'm not real either. I don't have a heart or a soul… I'm not a real person."

Enough was too much. "Fizdis, maybe this world _was_ created. So what? That doesn't make you any less of a person!"

She looked directly at him. Her eyes glinted like the dark edges of obsidian knives laid upon an altar stone. "Even your words to me are false. You treat me like an equal… but you and I are not the same. If I'm not real, then what do I mean to you? Once you leave this world, what then? You and your _real_ friends will be back in your _real_ world, and you'll all forget about me. It'll be as though this place or I never existed. And if this world was created by someone in yours, then surely it can be destroyed the same way…"

"Fizdis, stop it," Yugi cut in. The way she was talking was scaring him now. She was nothing like the innocent, shy-spoken girl he had trusted to be on his team since he first arrived. Now he felt as if she were a towering judge, bearing accusations of his integrity down on him, and that he was pleading not only for his innocence, but for her to see her own. "You can't say that we don't see you as an equal. You've been through so much with us…"

"But you don't _care_," she countered. "You don't, because you can't. How can anyone care about something like me? I'm not a person; I was created. And because all of _you_ know it, you don't even bother to care about me."

Yugi could hardly bear what he was hearing. Everything he had come to know of Fizdis was gone, shattered by her anger and hurt. She had been the purest of any of them, and here, now, she was the grimmest, holding the truth of her whole world within her like a scar that sealed her heart. "Fizdis…"

"Stop trying to sweet talk me!" she snapped. "You always do the same thing, like I'm some little girl you have to take care of; give her a hug and tell her what she wants to hear, just to make sure your perfect battle plans aren't derailed!"

Again, Yugi could only gape. All those times he had comforted Fizdis, he had just done what felt right to him. Never once had there been an ulterior motive, nothing other than to ease the pains of her heart, because that was what Yugi believed was the right thing to do… for a friend.

Tears edged Fizdis's eyes, the angry sort of tears that sparkle abnormally brightly with hate. Had she really come to the conclusion in her mind that she meant nothing to him? That he had been using her for the advancement of his tactics and didn't even view her as a fellow human being?

"Fizdis, I will not tolerate you talking like this." Yugi couldn't let her go on thinking these things. He couldn't leave her while she still believed that she was worthless and unloved. "Listen to me, right now. I _can_ care about you. Why? Because I _do_. If it's not possible then how is it I _am_, right now?"

"You don't care." She seemed to be talking more to herself than to him, as if his constant empty claims had degraded his status in her eyes. "I'm not real to deserve that emotion, and you aren't fit to give it."

"Fizdis–!"

She would have no more. She pushed past him and marched into their shelter, never once looking at him. In a flash the white of her robes was claimed by shadow, and she was gone. Her mind was made up.

Yugi was left standing outside, alone in the starlight, feeling in his heart a sense of deep guilt and failure. (2)

* * *

Yugi had finally managed to fall asleep the night before, but had only stayed that way for a few hours. When he woke up again he felt even worse than he had before. His eyes bore the ache of sleep deprivation and the rest of his body felt slightly raw, as from sunburn, from the currents of static still buzzing within him. The morning felt inexplicably grim as he watched the sky outside lighten to a deadened gray. During the quiet stillness before he moved to roust the others he thought solely on what had happened with Fizdis. He still couldn't believe the things she had said… Scott had already taken three of his friends from him, and now, his heart beat thickly with the knowledge that he had lost a fourth.

When the time came to wake the others, he didn't go near her, deciding to let the noise from Tristan's grumbling do the work instead. Yugi watched her carefully from the corner of his eye, and as she stirred awake she looked as delicate as she always did, like a bird rustling dew from its feathers. Then the events of last night seemed to come back to her: her eyes immediately hardened with enmity and she shot him an arrow-tipped glare. Yugi pretended not to notice it; though he felt her coldness cling to his shoulders throughout the morning like chilled fog.

Mai, Tristan, and Shimon had their own downtrodden looks as they trudged outside into the morning light. Most of it was the disheartening events of Sygh-Varths, but what really dragged them down was the fact that as much as their situation had changed, so much was still the same. There were Imperials doing who knew what in the Badlands… and where there were Imperials, there would be fighting. Over and over again: battle after battle, escaping with their lives, only to have to fight for them again. It was an endless cycle, the drain of war on one's stamina. Yugi knew his friends must be nearly at their limits. He also knew that it would be a long time before they made any headway against Scott and the Empire and recovered their former status, let alone achieve the victory they needed to escape back to the real world. He could only hope that they could hold out against their exhaustion a while longer.

For the rest of the morning the resistance milled about the researcher base. They couldn't make a plan of action without knowing more of what they were up against, and the Illusory Gentleman had not yet returned with the information they needed. Yugi had not bothered to think through possible scenarios of attack or defense, because he knew it wouldn't matter. The others could think he was waiting for information so that he could plan some all-encompassing strategy, but in reality his one goal was to storm the castle. He _knew_, in a way that not even Yugi himself knew how he knew, that it was _she_ stationed as the Imperial leader there. He could feel it as surely as he knew which way was up. He refused the faint suggestions from Mana that it might be wishful thinking overpowering his rational thought. There was no one else it _could_ be; his heartbeat reinforced his logic.

Right now all he could do to override the anxiety in his mind was pace around the expanse of the researcher base and pretend to be engrossed in his thoughts. It wasn't something he had any desire to do, but he had little choice otherwise. He needed to keep moving to keep himself focused, and only by means of constant motion could he quell that jittery feeling in his nerves. It was also necessary because sitting still made it harder to hide the sporadic shivers that ran through him with the currents of electricity, which had become more frequent since yesterday. He didn't want his friends to notice and face their inquiries to his health.

Tristan was slumped over one of the higher walls some distance away, his upper body resting on crossed arms and stone. He had a look of sleepy boredom in his eyes as he watched his friend pace about the piles of stone. "Eight," he said aloud.

Mai was a few feet to his side, sitting on the wall like a perched vulture, alert for the sake of being alert, and for nothing else. "What?"

"Eight," Tristan repeated, lifting his head to look at her. "It's the number of times Yugi's been around the ruins."

She nodded, following the one in question as he made his way along, though sounding as if she couldn't care less. "Ah."

Tristan glanced over at her, checking to see if she actually looked awake and capable of thinking. From the tone of her voice he could tell she wanted to be left alone, but he needed a second opinion to check against his own thoughts. Talking the depression out of Yugi yesterday hadn't cleared up his suspicions. There was still something that he wasn't telling them. "You notice how weird he's been acting lately?"

Fingernails clicked on the stone wall idly. "Not really. What do you mean by 'weird?'"

"I don't know, it's just… You saw how angry he got at me when we were arguing about the Imperials earlier? But when I talked to him later, he seemed completely mellow. He even apologized for getting angry."

"That sounds like the normal Yugi to me, taking responsibility for his actions."

"Yeah, but it felt really drastic. Look at him now." He waved a hand at the pacing resistance leader. "He looks… nervous. When was the last time you saw _Yugi_ act _nervous?_" Mai remained silent. Though she had seen him show things like appropriate militaristic caution and the occasional fear in a moment of battle, she had never seem him nervous before.

"It's a little unsettling to think of what could be making someone like _him_ nervous," Tristan went on. "It's got me worried."

"I think you're getting ahead of yourself, Tristan. So Yugi's having a bit of a mood issue. So what? He's under a lot of stress right now. What happened back in Sygh-Varths… really hurt him." It had hurt all of them, really, including her. A hole had appeared in her happiness that a certain youthful spirit used to fill. "If you ask me, there's nothing to worry about. It'll pass."

Tristan frowned at her lenient attitude. She wasn't the one who felt ice slip down into her stomach every time she caught even the vaguest signal that something was up with Yugi. He had been thinking about it since yesterday, and the only answer he had been able to draw up after exhaustion and Téa was magic. There were no real grounds for suspecting that magic was involved with anything, but the static Yugi had described yesterday had Tristan worried despite the fact that he hadn't openly mentioned feeling anything foreboding from it. Whatever the cause, something _was_ bothering him, and magic just fit as the perfect answer. Emotional stress could be a factor, but it didn't fit the symptoms. Sensing magic didn't just do physical things to Yugi; it also tended to affect his persona slightly, which was why the red flags in Tristan's head had been thrown up with the angry outburst of yesterday. It was apparent, however, that either Mai hadn't noticed these things or didn't care, and there was little use in pressing the matter further.

He tried a different angle. "Earlier, did you see how Fizdis never even said a word to him? Usually it's always 'Good morning, Yugi' or something like that; but today, nothing. They didn't even look at each other. I swear I saw her make a fist when he walked by…"

She sat up with interest. "You think something's up between them?"

"I don't know. It was abnormal."

"You don't think that Fizdis would…?"

"No," he said immediately; but he didn't think that Yugi would do anything to start a feud between them either. He wasn't sure what to think, because either way it was hard to believe that one of them could hurt the other.

"Well, I'm not going to ask them about it," said Mai as she stood and brushed loose bits of rubble from her skirt. "If there's even anything wrong between them, it's theirs to deal with."

Tristan didn't agree with Mai's _laissez-faire_ attitude and opened his mouth to say so, when out of the corner of his eye he saw Yugi jolt to attention. Yugi's gaze snapped to the right, and exactly where he looked the Illusory Gentleman appeared in wisps of hazy smoke.

"Finally. News." Yugi immediately started for the informant, whom was customarily bowing. "What have you learned of the Imperials' aims?"

"…In truth, little. We were unable to get close enough to the castle to learn too much in the way of motive, for patrols of soldiers blocked the way. As you wished, we did our best not to be seen.

"In terms of what they were doing, they brought in many loads of supplies, which did not seem to be intended for military use. There were standard items like food and fabric… rations, perhaps. Archfiend of Gilfer, flying overhead at night, saw these things gathered on the castle roof. As for their purpose, we cannot say for certain, only that it looks as though they are planning to remain within the castle for some time."

A sigh of defeat came from the resistance. "In other words, nothing?" asked Tristan.

"Nothing," agreed the Gentleman.

"You didn't even see the woman from earlier?"

"No. We saw no one but the guards outside the castle."

They slumped at the shoulders, another setback weighted against them. Yugi's eyes flickered with visible defeat. So desperately he had prayed for news on the mysterious woman, for he had felt so sure that with any detail he could judge if it was truly she. "Thank you for what you've given us," he told the Gentleman. "If you want to return to stakeout, you may, but it looks as though we won't be getting anything more from them."

The Gentleman nodded curtly. He held his silver-tipped cane in one hand, and just as he was about to vanish he looked directly into Yugi's eyes. Yugi felt himself freeze, for though he couldn't see the Gentleman's face behind his silver mask he knew somehow that the monster had made direct contact with him. The fiend moved the hand holding his staff, and Yugi noticed in the one second it was visible that he held his ring finger extended away from the cane.

A flash of smoke, and then he was gone. Yugi blinked and realized that all of that had happened in one moment. He shook his head slightly, and then caught himself, for he knew that the others hadn't sensed anything. As it had happened, the whole world had felt strangely bloated and dim, like the landscape in the heat of summer.

A sudden wave of seriousness came from Mahado. '_Soulmaster, quickly. Move away so that we may speak_.'

Yugi turned and made for the ruins again without a word – the others would think that he was formulating a plan based on the report. He started pacing again before slipping into autopilot and connecting with Mahado. '_Mahado, what was–?_'

'_The Gentleman has not told us everything that he knows. He is keeping a secret from us_.'

With careful willpower Yugi kept his expression as though he were deeply focused on his thoughts. '_How are you sure? Nothing in his manner suggested he was lying_.'

'_He was not lying. Not directly. Even so, he is withholding information from us_.'

'_How do you know?_'

'_That action he performed – you felt it draw your attention? It is a means of passing a message without others knowing – a symbol, as the ring finger is a place where secrets could be kept hidden in the stone of a ring. In the past it was used among spellcasters and magic-users to signal that a secondary meeting must be held in the future… outside the presence of the current company._'

'_So… are you saying that the Gentleman doesn't want the others to hear what he has to say?_' Yugi asked.

'_We must assume such. I do not think he knows of my presence, meaning that he performed the gesture thinking that you, a soul of magic, would recognize its meaning_.' Mahado half-smiled to himself. '_I did not think anyone used that method much anymore. Though, to live in the Badlands, he must be as old as I_…'

Yugi's tail swished back and forth in curiosity. '_I wonder what he could have to tell me?_'

'_We shall find out soon. In the meantime, think of a way to be alone sometime in the near future. It would not do to leave him waiting_.'

In the end he had waited maybe a quarter of an hour before he could take the pressure no longer. He had told the others that he was going off flying for a while, just to clear his head, and that they should rest while they could, as they would be leaving upon his return. He didn't care what the others thought of it. He _needed_ to know what the Gentleman wanted to tell him. His head was already leaping around at ideas of what the Imperials were really up to. Were they readying an attack of some kind? Had the Gentleman witnessed Scott's true goal within the castle, the likes of which would utterly devastate them?

As Seiyaryu flew for the distant outcropping of rock, he growled and clenched the reins in his fists. Maybe instead the Gentleman had seen his friends there, trapped in Scott's service. The idea of what Scott had done to them and was making them do even now made his blood boil with hatred. Just thinking of what she might be doing at his hand brought a snarl to his lips; he could just see Scott forcing her to dote on him as he laughed at the resistance's misery. Laughing and laughing, eyes flashing with arrogance, and Yugi felt an inexplicable urge to choke his mental image, every instinct in him screaming that he rip the laughing Scott to bloody shreds–

'_Soulmaster!_' Mahado urged. Yugi started, dazed by the heat of his own emotion. '_It is unwise to let your anger flare like that. With the current state of your nerves and your heart, it could easily grow out of your control_.' Yugi forced the snarl away though he continued to simmer bitterly to himself, unwilling to fully abate his anger.

Seiyaryu fluttered to the ground and settled its wings against its sides. They had flown to that same rocky hill where the resistance had first encountered the band of fiends during their last visit to the Badlands. Yugi leapt off and started pacing impatiently, habitually, with a nervous quickness to his steps. Seiyaryu watched its master cautiously, Mahado and Mana doing the same from their gems. They knew that everything weighing on his shoulders was quickly wearing him thin, like a rug dragged along the ground with a load of crates upon it will quickly become threadbare. They feared that the guilt he harbored would soon wear a hole within his heart.

'_Hey_,' Mana gave him a mental poke, '_calm down will you? Getting antsy won't make him come faster_.'

'_Who says I'm not calm? I'm perfectly calm_,' Yugi countered.

'_Yeah, well, if your idea of "calm" is a heart rate through the roof, then sure_…'

Not a few minutes more passed before the Illusory Gentleman appeared several yards away from him. The Gentleman didn't seem to have anticipated Yugi coming there, and was surprised to see him. "You came this far to meet me?" he asked. "I'd have thought you to wait for nightfall for us to meet."

"Nightfall seemed too long to wait. My comrades are expecting departure orders soon."

"Is that so?"

"Yes." Yugi's gaze sharpened and cut the air between them. "With your report they assumed that there was nothing at all to fear from the Imperials, and want to move on to a new hiding place." He had outwardly expressed agreement with this plan to placate them, but inside he never once had wanted to do that. He wanted to know more about the mysterious activities of the castle before they left. In his mind he had secretly scorned them for such naïveté: they wanted so desperately out of the Badlands, but with their status as outcasts just about everywhere on the continent was equally as bad as this place. At least out here they didn't have to hide from anyone who might seek vengeance.

"I had perceived as much from the group." The Gentleman stepped forward, looking down on him with something that could almost be described as pity: the look of someone wishing to aid the underdog, all while knowing the gravity his actions took with the sharing of information to him. "While I and the Archfiend have been on stakeout duty at the castle, I posted the Neck Hunter near you, to watch the group dynamics."

"You were watching _us?_"

"Only because I knew there would be trouble for your group if I told you the information outright. I needed to see where everyone stood. I needed to make sure _you_ didn't change your mind about wanting to storm the castle. I assume that belief still holds?"

Yugi nodded. "Yes. There's something there I must see for myself. If the others won't do it, I'll do it alone."

The Gentleman half-hummed and turned away. "Then I must ask something else. Is the reason you wish to face the Imperials because of the woman I described to you earlier?"

"_What?_" Yugi exclaimed. "What makes you–"

"The moment I mentioned her, your eyes showed profound interest. Do not forget that I was also there when you quarreled with your friend and fought so desperately to go and enter the castle." Yugi could only stand in numb silence. "The reason I ask is also the reason I have come to you. The woman I saw was dressed in the same strange manner as your group, and I can tell that she was at one point a member of the resistance."

"So it _was_ her!" Yugi blurted, his heart already quickening with anticipation. "It really was Téa… Why didn't you tell us this outright?"

"I needed to make sure your group was up to the challenge of braving the castle to fetch her. From the look of things, your group was against this idea, so I said nothing."

Yugi caught himself in his rising hope, and refocused his energy. "She is one of my greatest friends and allies. She has been taken by the Emperor's evil magic; I would do anything to free her from it," he explained, his voice strong. "Regardless of what my companions might think, I will risk storming the castle if it means getting her back."

"Listen, it's not that simple. Even though the one you seek is here, there is more danger to the situation than you realize." The Gentleman stamped his cane on the ground. "The Imperials are not doing harmless things, as I have led the rest of your group to so believe. They are invoking a force more deadly than anything this continent knows.

"The supplies they have received are not mere rations for the soldiers, nor are they meaningless. They are in actuality rare stones and jewels, exotic herbs, and other magical items, which together are the components necessary for the casting of an extremely powerful curse. It takes two days to prepare everything for the casting, before the unleashing of magical energy at the second night's moon. It is a curse that will obliterate everything as we know it and draw everything into ruin. You, a magic-user's soul, should know of it."

'_I don't_,' Yugi said to Mahado bluntly.

'_Yet I do_.' Mahado's voice had suddenly taken on a deeply grave tone, a tone Yugi had never heard him use before, as if his voice were reaching him from across the deepest cosmos. '_Surely he cannot mean…_ _The curse whose purpose is naught but to destroy; magic woven by the Devil himself_…'

Mahado recited: '_"Wickedness shall coat the Land, to fester in the shadows of the deepest mountains; And the Land, Tainted, will be sundered, to be drawn back into the Earth; And the Oceans shall rage into nothingness; And the Sun itself shall perish, casting hate and despair into motion…" The Curse to Destroy Worlds_.'

'_Wh-What will happen?_'

'_The land will crumble into the sea, and the sea itself will be swallowed by the cracks in the land. Those living will die, and the souls of all the dead will be cast directly into eternal damnation in Hell without the hope of Heaven. Everything will return to the core of the planet, until all that is left is a void of desolation on a barren world_…' Yugi paled and gave a choking gasp.

The Gentleman nodded to him sadly. "You see what I mean. We haven't much time to act."

"Why didn't you tell the whole group this? This is serious!" Yugi cried. "We're going to have to fight them to stop it, we'll need our full force…!"

"No." The Gentleman pounded the hard earth again with his cane. "This cannot be done as a group. The Imperials knew that if you caught wind of their actions, you would try to stop them. Therefore they have used magic to erect an anti-monster barrier around the perimeter of the castle. No Duel Monsters may be summoned within it, and none already called can enter. They have also stationed a legion of soldiers at the entrances of the castle to bar your way. Without your monsters, you cannot fight them, and you would surely be outnumbered in a physical confrontation with the guards themselves.

"The resistance cannot enter." The Gentleman advanced and gripped Yugi's shoulder suddenly, spinning him around to meet his own reflection in the shining mask. "Yet it would be possible for a single person to get past the guards."

A single person. _One_ person, to slip past such impregnable defenses. Now it was clear why the Gentleman had singled him out. None of the other resistance members thought storming the castle was a good idea. None of them wanted so desperately to enter, possibly to risk his life, just to confirm a silly belief. Only Yugi held that stance.

"You are a magic-using soul," the Gentleman went on. "Your own soul should be enough protection from the initial waves of the curse to keep you safe. You alone of your group can stand in the presence of the curse."

'_It's true_,' agreed Mana. '_Magic like that has power even before it's completely cast. Its energies would ravage the souls of those without magic who got too near. It's like the opposite of what magic does to you most of the time._ _They would feel incredible pain – a pain caused by their souls not operating on the plane of magic_.'

'_We should also be able to aid you, Soulmaster_,' Mahado added. '_We can act from our soul gems without being summoned. Though we cannot attack, we may cast spells to your defense_.'

Yugi took in a deep breath. The enormity of the situation numbed his brain cold, yet at the same time lifted a small part of him to its greatest courage. "I – I understand what you're asking of me," he said. "I'll do it." The Gentleman seemed to smile and bowed to him.

"As I knew you would. It was yet another reason I chose to tell you this." Yugi looked at him confusedly, and the Gentleman explained: "I have appeared off and on near your group since we first met, so that I would know where to find you if the need ever came to report activity to you. Through those visits I have seen the great feats you are capable of with your strong heart.

"Now, you must part with your companions. They cannot join you in this fight." With that, the Gentleman vanished in a whirl of cape and smoke.

Yugi stood stock still for a moment after that. He became aware that he was shaking, though maybe that was just his nerves firing with electricity again. Seiyaryu moved beside him and nudged his arm reassuringly with its beak. Yugi stroked his dragon's neck automatically, his thoughts a violent swirl in his head. It was another long moment before he moved to clamber onto his dragon's back, Seiyaryu taking off quickly for the researcher base.

Mahado stirred guiltily in Yugi's heart. '_…Soulmaster, there is one other thing_.' Yugi paused questioningly, and Mahado said, very quietly, '_To unleash the massive power of the curse, there must be a human sacrifice_.'

Yugi blinked. It made sense that a curse like that would need the purity of human life to call such destruction, so why was Mahado–

He froze so abruptly he jerked. _Human sacrifice_.

No.

_No_.

The guards were defending the curse casting from the resistance. They were needed to prevent intruders from foiling the plan – and there was only one other person within the castle that Scott deemed unnecessary.

* * *

Notes:

(One) – This is the most incredibly corny introductory paragraph of the game. I copy these from the game word for word, save a little editing here and there to accommodate my version of the story. When I came to this level, I thought: Frick. I have to write this chapter. So, basically, this chapter became creative license chapter, allowing me to tie up several bits of plot, since writing it exactly as it was in the game would have been poison for your eyes. It's funny how the Badlands end up doing that for me.

(Two) – Hey, you knew it was coming. Did you ever wonder, "Hey, what do Shimon and Fizdis think when the others go on and on about programming and stuff?" Well, I assumed you thought that. I was waiting for a good time to put it in, and after Scott showing their real-world selves the ANGST ANGST ANGST time seemed like a good time.

SC: So sue me. I hate that this took so long, I really do. But the chapter was getting way out of hand, and I thought it would be better if I really worked through it to make it better before just posting a load of clichéd, subpar, cheesy crud. So there ya' go.

On the plus side, I already have about seventy-five percent of the next chapter done (Part II). I still need to edit it, and write the final scene. I'd wager Spring Break.

Thank you for returning and reading, if you're still there. Please review! Comments are welcome, and constructive criticism is appreciated.

Word Count: 13,640 (and that's only half! See, I told you it was long!)


	20. Spellcaster, Part II

SC: Good God. It has officially taken me a year to post this chapter. (Well, I started it in November of last year...) I suppose my only rationale is that this chapter was basically one hundred percent generated by me, with almost nothing taken straight from the game.

The other problem is that this is one of those chapters where I've had the idea forever, meaning that when I write it, I tend to want to write it as near to my original idea as possible. Then it sucks, because I came up with the idea years ago, and I have to fix it to match the existing story, and so on. Basically, this one's like Counterattack: since I've had the idea for so long, portions of preceding chapters actually include things that lead up to it. Thus, I have to make sure it fits with the seeds I've already planted, while planting new seeds, and making sure the style of the whole thing is acceptable and doesn't sound like a starry-eyed ninth-grade fangirl wrote it.

Cough.

Point being: I spent a lot of time changing the angles in this chapter, to make it the best I could for you readers. So, while I do apologize for the lateness, I argue the point that I did it for y'all.

Warning: Moderate amounts of goriness to follow.

**Spellcaster, Part II**

When Yugi finally returned to the ruins, the others were standing outside, waiting for him in an impatient semicircle.

"Fans? Am I really that popular?" he asked as Seiyaryu landed.

"You were gone a long time," said Mai. "This place isn't exactly a resort. We just want to get the heck out of here." With those words Yugi looked immediately to Fizdis, and felt a pang of guilt when pain flashed on her face. Before he could even give her an apologetic look the walls in her eyes had gone up, mortared with scorn.

Mai went on: "So? Did a grand plan make its way into your head while you were out there, or not?"

Yugi turned to Shimon wearily. "Shimon, what is the name of the nearest town?"

"I believe we are the closest to Phostenn, of the Enno region," he said. "It is southwest of the Badlands."

"All right." Yugi sighed and closed his eyes briefly, and for a moment exhaustion drew into his features, like a burden gathered up in one's arms. "We can't stay out here forever," Yugi said, and Mai nodded fiercely. "We need to get back to civilization. We'll split up and travel separately, just like we did in coming to the Badlands. We'll meet in the woods outside of town; from there we'll see what we can do about sneaking in and getting supplies."

"And then what?" asked Tristan.

"For now, that's all we can do: sneak around and eke out an existence. Until we hear news of one of our friends, we'll have to lie low."

"Lie low by sleeping on the ground every night," Mai muttered, stepping forward with her dragon's gem in hand. "After this crash course of Badlands, I am one for leaving. Fizdis, you coming?"

The two of them clambered onto Curse of Dragon's back and took off without even looking back. The morning was already slipping into afternoon, and the blazing sun overhead choked off the flow of air below, tethering its stagnant heat to the earth with shimmering ropes of warped air. Tristan watched Shimon and Yugi ready their dragons for flight with distant scrutiny. He had noticed something off about the look in Yugi's eyes while he had been speaking. He was sure that Yugi was trying to dampen it, but it was nonetheless present and gleaming like a keen edge revealed in a flicker of candlelight: Yugi had the look of battle in his eyes.

Tristan's red flags of suspicion started waving in his head again. What was Yugi doing lingering on the prospect of battle? There shouldn't be any chance of fighting an enemy: certainly he wasn't expecting a fight when they regrouped outside Enno, or that there could be some sort of ambush on the way there (they _were_ still in the Badlands, after all). Unless…

_Crap. Yugi's gonna' pull a solo act_.

Tristan remained quiet with his observation. Shimon and Yugi took off in separate directions, and he waited a little bit before spurring Gazelle in a trajectory alongside Yugi's. He stayed out of sight, letting Yugi gain distance until he and his dragon were a pink and black spot far ahead of him. Keeping to the edges of hills in case Yugi turned around to see him, he watched. Inwardly he chided himself for being paranoid, untrusting of his friend – but he didn't want to take a chance that Yugi might kill himself doing something foolish.

Suddenly Seiyaryu flapped upward, as if Yugi had pulled back on the reins. Tristan urged Gazelle to a stop and quickly hid in the shadows of some nearby rocks. He watched them hang in the sky, Seiyaryu's wings beating rhythmically. Yugi paused, seemed to look around him for any sign of activity, and then quickly, almost fiercely, spurred Seiyaryu into motion. With a distant echo of a roar the rose-colored dragon took off in a new direction, back toward the heart of the Badlands.

"I knew it!" Tristan urged Gazelle to chase after him. "That idiot… What's he planning to do?" He no longer cared about secrecy. If Yugi was going to do something stupid, he needed to stop him. Gazelle's paws pounded up clouds of dust as it poured on strength. Slowly they gained on the secretive pair in the sky.

"Hey!" Tristan hollered when he was close enough to be heard. "Are you gonna' come down here and explain yourself or what?"

Yugi snarled atop his dragon; it seemed he hadn't made it away from the others as easily as he had hoped. A growl threatened his vocal chords as Seiyaryu dipped and began spiraling toward the ground. He didn't have time to deal with interrogation – not with so little time until moonrise.

Tristan gulped as he jogged toward where his friend had landed, for Yugi's face radiated a fierce irritation that set his stomach back against his spine. He decided that if Yugi was already angry, he had nothing to risk by being blunt. "What the hell are you doing? Deliberately going the opposite way as the rest of us?"

"What I do is none of your concern," he countered immediately. "Yet I could ask you the same thing; _you_ went away from everyone else, too."

"Yes, but not of my own intention. I followed you."

"And _why_ did you follow me? Am I not to be trusted? Even after everything we've been through, you have to keep me under surveillance?"

Tristan shivered under his glare. It was true: he felt guilty for being so suspicious; yet the rash anger in his friend's voice evinced the knowledge that Tristan's suspicions were dead on. Yugi was irate at being caught in the act. Whatever guilt Tristan felt sank beneath his reinforced superstition.

Verbal attack was the wrong approach. _Calm down, and speak to him in a way that'll get him to ease off_. "Look, I was just worried about you, okay?" said Tristan. "It's not like you to make snap decisions like that, so I thought there might be something up."

It had seemed too easy, that quick relay of Yugi's plan to the others. If that was all there was to it, then why had he needed all that time alone to come up with it? Not only that, but Yugi had forgone his stubborn defense of the idea that the Imperials in their castle were up to no good. Much as everyone labeled Joey to be the stubborn rock head of the group, Yugi was just as obstinate, if not more so. To forgo his previous attitude about the Imperials was unlike him, as unnatural as it would be for him to give up the game of Duel Monsters, and to Tristan it was highly suspicious. He was up to something, and judging by the unnatural anger in his actions right now, it was a big deal.

"_No_, you mean to say that you didn't believe my acquiescence to the idea of leaving," Yugi snapped. "You knew there was no way I'd leave without knowing the true aims of the Imperials."

Tristan gaped. Yugi had taken the thoughts right out of his head. That was something Yugi did with definite accuracy: he could figure out whatever you were thinking, based on the most logical process of thought. It was a skill that had certainly proven invaluable in defeating their enemies throughout their escapades, but it was also possible to use it to Yugi's disadvantage. Yugi's skill with the logic of thought derived from the fact that _he_ always did the most logical thing. If you could work back from what his predictions of the most logical thoughts would be, you could figure out what _he_ was up to.

Fact: Yugi thought that Tristan didn't believe his resolution to leaving. That meant that he really _didn't_ want to leave, and the most logical reason that could be deduced for _why_ he didn't want to leave was that he still thought Téa was in the castle; which, in turn, meant that Yugi really _did_ think that. (1)

Not only that, thought Tristan dryly, if Téa were involved in the picture, it would certainly explain why Yugi was so worked up over his interruption. Anything that would upset a mission to rescue her would surely set him off.

He opened his mouth to pin Yugi with what he knew, but Yugi cut him off, "I don't have time for you. Go back the way you were supposed to go, and don't follow me again. _That's an order_."

Tristan flinched at his tone, but also jumped on the words. Yugi _never_ used his position as resistance leader to order people around. That only made his current actions more alarming in Tristan's mind. As he turned away to remount his dragon Tristan also noticed a jerk in his shoulders, a wince that could only have come from some spasm of internal pain. Now, what had been nagging at him since they had arrived in the Badlands clamped down on his brain: something was wrong with Yugi.

He hustled after him to keep up with his long strides. "Hey, don't think I'm done with you yet!" He reached out to grab Yugi's shoulder.

_Snap-snap-snap!_ Before he had even made contact, the force of static electricity ripped up his hand. He jerked his hand back; he was certain he had seen actual sparks bridge the air between them.

Yugi stopped walking, but didn't turn around to face him. There were definitely the beginnings of anger in his voice – not normal-people anger, but Yugi's own special brand of get-the-hell-out-of-my-way-or-that's-where-_you'll_-be – as he said, "I don't have time for you. _Leave_."

"I'm not leaving. Not until you open up about what you're really doing out here."

This time Yugi actually _growled_, that grating sound that caused the hairs on the back of Tristan's neck to prickle. "I said _go_."

"Yugi, you are a wreck. You've been moody and tense and – dare I say it," Tristan almost spat the next words as he took a step forward, "_downright vicious_. You're acting irrationally and impulsively, and if you don't fess up to the cause, I'll force it out of you. _The hard way_."

There was a heavy pause of silence. Yugi turned back to look at him, eyes sharp as talons; for a moment Tristan didn't know what to think, because the way Yugi was looking at him was a mix of unsettling fierceness and rational consideration of his words.

Something changed. The way the air felt, the way time moved – Tristan didn't know how he was sure of this. There wasn't really anything he could _feel_ that was different, he just _knew_. Like someone had turned on a big magnet, and electro-magnetic forces were blasting through him and everything around him even though the science teachers always told him such things were undetectable by human senses.

It was definitely real, though. Whatever it was that was different happened at the exact same time that Yugi decided rationality was defunct and his anger was in the right.

"I told you to _leave_," he thundered, "and I meant what I said about forcing you!"

Tristan took a step back in alarm. Seiyaryu started growling, though he couldn't be sure if the sound was directed at him or at its master's ferocity. His eyes caught on red scales as Yugi's tail curled with tension; he prayed it was an unconscious action and not because Yugi was actively considering using it.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You've gone crazy!" Tristan found himself hollering back despite his fears that angering him further was not the best idea. The current situation was making every impulse in him scream that Yugi was _dangerous_. It was a feeling he had never associated with Yugi, not in this way, only in the way that _dangerous_ meant impossible strategies and the determination to see them through by any means. Now it meant the danger of confrontation, and a rising fear that at his current rate Yugi might actually _attack_ him.

He had to talk the sense back into him. "You can't be serious about this..." – he decided to go forward with his inferred knowledge – "...you can't be serious about Téa being here!"

Yugi seemed momentarily taken aback by this accusation but nonetheless snarled back: "Téa _is_ here – not that you seem to care!"

"I do care! But you don't _know_ that it's her! You just can't get over the fact that you might be wrong about this! Listen to me: _let it go_. When we find her, we will save her. _All_ of us, together. You don't have to run off playing hero at the slightest murmur of her name!"

Tristan thought he had been convincing enough, yet Yugi's eyes were smoldering, steadily burning more strongly, like dried brush slowly cresting into a forest fire. "Fine. I get it. I won't try anything." Mentally Tristan breathed a sigh of relief. "Now, if you don't mind, _leave me alone_."

He stopped his mental cheering. Yugi's voice had taken on a terse anger with those last words, and it was enough to send Tristan's stomach plummeting in fear again. It was plain as day that he hadn't deterred his friend's rash goal in the slightest. He looked into Yugi's eyes and saw bitterness hidden along the edges of his eyes. Yugi had blatantly lied to him... and he showed no resentment for having done so.

Tristan forced himself to remain peaceable. "Wait!" he called as Yugi turned to remount his dragon. "We're still in the Badlands. We don't have to split up until we get close to settled areas. I'll stay with you for the time being."

A snarl rose abruptly in Yugi's throat, such that Tristan recoiled from the sudden viciousness of the sound. "What, so now you don't trust me?"he spat, not bothering to turn around and look at him. "You have to follow me more than you already have?"

"I'd say so, given how untrustworthy you're being right now!" Tristan was nearly frantic. Yugi had never acted like this before; he was not only casting off rational judgment of the situation, but also disregarding his friends. The iconic personality that Tristan admired greatly, that he had even defended the inherent goodness of to Yugi himself the night before, had been cast aside. If in the next few moments Kaiba appeared with a plate full of freshly baked cookies and started giving out hugs, he would give himself a good, hard pinch to wake himself up from this impossible dream-world scenario...

But it was real. Yugi really and truly was eroding right in front of him.

"Untrustworthy? Me?" Yugi laughed spitefully. "Ironic of you to say that. I didn't even do anything wrong, and yet you tailed me all the way out here. If I'm untrustworthy, what does that make you? A wretch that seeks naught but to tear down his own companions?"

Tristan felt an internal pang of sickness at that last part. Yugi's words were becoming more and more venomous – and he couldn't help but feel that he had heard this tone somewhere before. "No. It makes me your friend."

"Friend? Ha." Fang points glinted in the shadows of his bangs as he glanced back. "If you're a friend, then allies are but enemies."

It was now official: Yugi was not himself. This wasn't even a Yugi moved by anger; no, this just simply _was not Yugi_. No matter how much he would want to save Téa, the Yugi he knew would never just abandon the caring of his friends, nor the rational thought that drove so many of his strategies. He could never become a monster such as this. Something bigger was going on that was driving him over the brink.

"Something's wrong with you." Tristan set his stance, bracing for the much worse shades of Yugi's temper to rise with the accusation. "Whatever it is, it's got you seriously _screwed up_."

Yugi bristled at that. "Nothing's wrong. Now _leave_."

"No."

"_Yes_." Yugi jerked back to face him, fangs exposed in a snarl. A rock plunked inside Tristan's stomach as his fear solidified there. Yugi was moving away from human anger and was quickly nearing the fangs-and-claws anger his half-dragon physiology allowed. If Tristan didn't do something to turn the tables now, in the next few minutes he could end up slashed open and bleeding on the ground.

"You idiot!"

Without warning Tristan shoved him back against the nearby rocks, pinning him by the shoulders. Sparks snapped up his hands and bit painfully into his skin – but he maintained his grip. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but it has to stop! Even if you were passionate about a cause, you were never so, so rash! It's not _like_ you!"

Yugi didn't answer, snarling again with a sound that was purely bestial. Though he raised no physical resistance, his eyes shone almost red with unnatural anger. The current running up Tristan's arms was starting to burn with sickening heat as he stood over his friend, and still Yugi showed no signs of relenting in his viciousness.

"Yugi!" he tried again. "Snap out of it!" He didn't understand what was going on. It was like Yugi had lost control of his anger. What was making him go haywire?

Haywire. Enough electricity surging up Tristan's arms that his hair was looking more and more like Yugi's each second. A crackle of red sparks shifting over sinuous leather and scales.

Wait. _Red_ sparks?

Tristan tightened his grip. "Yugi, calm down," he said, keeping his voice level. "You're covered in magic. You have to make it go away."

Finally something in Yugi's anger ebbed, though his eyes still burned abnormally. He slackened into Tristan's grip, suddenly looking pained, as shadows welled under his eyes. "I... I can't. I can't get it to go away."

"Yes you can. I know you. Just breathe."

The heat was so blistering that Tristan felt as though he would soon be cooked from the inside out, yet he dared not release his grip for the sake of his friend. Yugi closed his eyes, taking in a shuddering breath of air. After endless moments of silence he could feel the biting static begin to weaken. A gust of wind rippled around them and for a moment he thought he could hear a furious hiss carried faintly with it.

Yugi was breathing heavily, not quite panting, but with a steadiness that signified he was clearing himself of his prior tumult. Tristan lessened his grip so it was more of a touch than a hold, and looked down at him levelly. "What's going on with you?" he asked. "I thought you said the static was residual from Scott's spell. Shouldn't it have gone away by now?"

Eyes still closed, Yugi answered in a puff of air: "Yes. No. I don't..." He hesitated. "...I said that it was from Scott. It was the explanation that made the most sense."

"Explain."

"The magic... didn't feel right." A tendril of static rippled across his form, cracking the air and causing Yugi to flinch. "You can see it yourself... It isn't the same as any of his prior spells."

Tristan had a rising speculation in his head that he hoped was false. "If it isn't from Scott, then what is it?"

"I don't know. I've never felt anything like this..." More sparks crackled between them as Tristan shifted his grip, his fingers feeling the bite of electricity when they brushed the metal studs on Yugi's collar. "It... It _burns_, Tristan. It's inside me and it keeps burning hotter and hotter, until my vision goes red and I can't even stop myself from attacking my own friend–!"

"Hey," Tristan stopped him, "it's all right. I forgive you. You don't have to worry about this. It'll wear off eventually."

"No." He swallowed, looking up at Tristan, all the edge finally gone from his eyes. "It won't leave me alone. No matter where I go, I feel it. It's followed me ever since we left Sygh-Varths, never fading, never relenting. Whatever this magic is, I'm the source... but I don't know how that's even possible."

Tristan, however, _did_ know, for the sight of red sparks had brought back quelled memories and set hissing laughter playing in his ears. In the back corners of his memory he could still see that auric color, and he had to will himself not to see it superimposed into Yugi's eyes. Yugi could easily be the source of this magic, because he had once _housed_ it.

Slypher's.

Gods. Yugi was feeling Slypher's magic.

It certainly explained Yugi's prior wrath. Slypher was the epitome of ferocity, and anyone with the essence of_ that_ inside him would be snarling whether or not he had fangs. And of course, there was no way Yugi would have recognized the energy, for he had been unconscious during Slypher's possession and so didn't recognize it as the god's. That part all made sense.

The real question was: why was it happening in the first place?

Where had it come from? Slypher was gone. He had _been_ gone for a long time. How could a trace of his magic have returned _now_, when its caster was locked away on a different plane?

"Tristan?"

He blinked. He had zoned out with his thoughts – he hoped he hadn't shown any of the dismay rising quickly in his heart on his face. He wasn't about to tell Yugi what he thought about the magic belonging to Slypher; there was a chance it would make him more unstable, and worsen his bouts of anger. Silently he forgave Yugi for being so worked up these past few days: suppressing the feeling of Slypher was enough to drive anyone haywire.

"It's nothing." Yugi seemed to have recovered himself and Tristan pulled away from him. "The real question is, are you okay?"

The question startled Yugi, to which he quickly responded. "I'm fine."

"You're not fine. You nearly bit my head off."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say those things..."

"I know you didn't. It doesn't change the fact that you said them."

Yugi took in a breath, steeling himself. "We can't stay here. We have to get to the Imperial castle."

Tristan's jaw dropped. After all that Yugi had just told him, he was still obsessed with his secret mission. "Yugi, are you nuts? How could you possibly still want to go there?"

"I have my reasons," he said, but the candlelit edge in his eyes betrayed the intensity of his motives.

"Enough with the secretive act. You've been doing that this whole time, and look where it's gotten you. Tell me what you're really doing out here." Tristan looked down at him squarely. "Do you really think she's out there? Are you still on about that?"

A touch of an unreadable emotion flickered as his eyes narrowed. "Téa's here. She's in the castle right now…"

"You don't _know_ that."

"I do." Yugi straightened, calling on weary strength to restore his determined posture. "The Illusory Gentleman confirmed it to me."

"What? When?"

"When I flew off from the rest of you. He spoke to me in private, and he revealed that he had seen her. Now let me go…" He pushed free of Tristan's hold.

"Yugi!" Tristan caught his friend's shoulder again, ignoring the sparks snapping at his hand. "You're set on getting her out of there. I get that. But you're in no shape to do anything about it. I'll come with you so that at least you won't–"

"_No_." Yugi pushed off Tristan's hand forcefully, turning to face him, with sunlight sharp as a saber shining fully from violet-red eyes. "You can't come."

Frustration rose in Tristan's voice. "Look, if she's here, she's here! It's not like I don't believe you!"

"You _can't_–"

Churning water, bone chilling, black and bitter as the currents of the deepest ocean trenches. He felt it at the edges of the land around him: eddies of magic wafting up from the horizon and seeping through the earth with the coming of night. The atmosphere, the whole mass of air covering the entire virtual world, jerked with tension, pitched up and down like a ship dipping among the waves. He felt it, and felt the stark fear from Mahado, and knew instantly what it was: the nascent stirrings of the curse calling.

Tristan saw the telltale _distance_ in Yugi's eyes. "What is it? What did you feel?"

"I'm too late," he murmured. A deepwater chill spread through his senses, bitter as frostbite; the sensation of lolling waves tugged at his ankles. "It's already started… _Seiyaryu!_" In a flurry of pink feathers his dragon was by his side, and in the next instant the two were airborne.

Tristan, dumbfounded, stumbled after, haphazardly calling Gazelle into the pursuit. He felt a rising fear towing him, for in an instant he had seen the embers in Yugi's eyes turn stone cold. "Yugi!" he called upward. "What the heck's going on?"

There was no answer immediately. Yugi still had his attention beyond his surroundings. "I didn't expect so much so quickly… He warned me of its power, but – _gods!_ – it's intense…"

"Yugi! I hate to interrupt whatever it is you're feeling, but what are you talking about?"

Yugi looked down at him as if unwilling to break the final veil of secrecy. Tristan glared up at him resolutely, and after a meeting of their gazes Yugi finally relented in his motive. "The Imperials have initiated the curse!" he called over the wind. "We don't have much time before it's completed!"

"Curse? What curse?" Tristan gave the question but in his steadily twisting stomach he knew already. This was what Yugi had been hiding from them. This was the real intent of his solo mission.

"The Imperials are invoking an incredibly destructive energy. They've been gathering the means necessary for the casting over the past two days. Now they're ready to unleash it…"

Yugi snarled into the wind such that even running on the ground beneath him Tristan could sense the loathing in the sound. "Scott must have planned this… It's too perfect. If the curse is successfully called, we'll be destroyed; or, we're lured out into the open trying to stop it, and put in a position where we could easily be crushed in battle. With this plan, he wins, either way it turns out..."

The look on Yugi's face – half panic and half center-of-a-storm intensity – was enough to tell Tristan that this curse was not anything like normal magic. Sinister, lucid with power; as he had already assessed, their descent into the dark folds of magic was only steepening. "Is it even _possible_ to stop whatever this is?"

"I don't know. Mahado doesn't know what can be done in defense of such malicious magic. Right now it's churning, gathering momentum, until it becomes self-sufficient. If we arrive too late, we may be powerless…"

"What do we do?"

Yugi looked down at him, bangs whipping about his face like clanging swords. "You can't do anything. Only I can."

"_What?_ How could you say that?"

His eyes narrowed: an intensity of emotion and not just of fear. "Tristan, listen to me. This curse consists of the vilest magic of this realm. It drains the energy of living creatures who would approach it. Souls attuned to magic can resist it… but those without magic have their lives slowly sucked away. Tristan, if you get too close to the source of this curse… you could die."

_Ulp_. That certainly wasn't comforting to hear. Before, Tristan had wished for minimal magical ability for the sake of his friends. Now, he wouldn't have minded it for the sake of protecting himself, too. "And you'll be safe? Are you sure of that?"

"I'll be safe from the initial waves. After that, I can't say." Yugi locked eyes with him, his gaze weary and grave. "This is why I sent the others away. I couldn't risk jeopardizing their safety. This is my task alone to face." He paused, turning dutifully back toward the horizon. "Tristan, you can't follow me."

Tristan gaped. Yugi had always been one to vie for solo acts, but this time he was willingly taking hold of his own life and raising it to the defense of countless other lives. He was doing it despite all the wear already on his shoulders, doing it despite the impossible odds against him. Tristan felt a pang of guilty awe, feeling ashamed of his prior accusations. He had thought Yugi was racing to the castle for selfish reasons… and here he was instead, forgoing his own self without hesitation.

Tristan's fingers burrowed more deeply into Gazelle's mane. "All right. I won't go with you." Yugi gave a grateful nod without looking at him and spurred Seiyaryu ahead. _But I'll still follow you_, he thought, letting Gazelle fall back out of Yugi's sight, _and I'll do anything I can to help_.

* * *

The castle stood on the lip of the canyon, which cut through the badlands like a pitch-black fosse. Disparate fragments buried deep in Yugi's memory brought snippets of familiarity; an uneasy tension from Mahado drew up the knowledge that this was the same castle where the magician had been previously imprisoned. Around its perimeter, tall outcroppings of rock served as perfect hiding places for Yugi as he crept near the entrance. He slinked carefully, pressing against the jutting rocks, wary of the Imperial soldiers guarding the premises. One pair watched the entrance, and a few more paced short lengths of the perimeter at various intervals: five soldiers, in all. Even with stealth, there were too many for him to make it through the front door unnoticed. He would have to find another way in.

A few feet ahead of him was a ring of freshly overturned soil. Even without going near it he felt faint heat prickle under his skin: the anti-monster barrier that the Imperial guards had constructed. From this point on, he wouldn't be able to call his monsters.

The only plausible way he saw of getting in was a window on the far side of the castle. One of the roaming guards passed it on his circuit, but after that it was unattended. Yugi crept toward it, making sure he knew where the guards were going before slipping to the next hiding place. Once the guard had cleared, he hustled forward.

_Let's hope this works_. He reached up and dug his claws into the groove between two stones. He pulled himself up as swiftly as he could, thankful that the years of wear on the castle had left him substantial footholds. Soon he reached the window and heaved himself in, then moved quickly away from the opening. Fortunately it seemed the Imperials had concentrated their manpower on guarding the perimeter, leaving the interior mostly devoid of life.

Now that he was inside the castle, he could much better feel the curse-magic's chill, a numbness that clung to his shoulders like a spectral hand. He shivered and caught sight of his own breath as creeping, stagnant mist. The Illusory Gentleman had said that the curse casting was being done on the roof. Given his current position, Yugi had five floors to breach before he reached it. That meant bypassing five floors of Imperial soldiers without being seen. His hand brushed Mahado's gem. '_Mahado? Anything?_'

Mahado tested the heft of the curse waters, wary of disrupting the tides of energy. Even one ripple added to its pool could tip its instability into a maelstrom. '_I don't detect any major activity in the curse yet. It is building energy, but that energy is not actively malignant_.'

Yugi nodded and slipped outside into the hallway. The castle was dark and mostly unlit, with a few sputtering torches left at uneven intervals. Whenever he was without of meager torchlight, he had to feel his way along the passages, walking on tiptoe to minimize the sound of his boot heels clicking on stone. The stones were as cold as marble; even without the curse magic lapping against them, the Badlands' chill never left the castle halls.

After traveling for a few minutes in the quiet darkness, Yugi jumped at the sound of footsteps coming towards him. An Imperial guard! With nowhere to go, Yugi pressed against the side of the passageway in the hopes of being passed by in the darkness. He narrowed his eyes, held his breath: the guard advanced with no sign of having noticed the intruder.

Yugi held frozen, his heart pounding. Should he be discovered, without his monsters, he would be hard pressed to escape. The soldier walked past him – no reaction. Yugi almost breathed a sigh of relief when goose bumps flew up his spine: the soldier had brushed against his tail, further behind him. A hand shot out to grasp at scales and found the undeniable warmth of a living being.

"Rebel!"

Yugi paled and took off down the hallway. The soldier chased after him, shouting incoherently, as Yugi ran blindly through the maze of passages. He had no idea which way to go to reach the roof. His nerves were too overwhelmed with the sheer size of the curse energy for him to sense the exact location. All he felt was a vague smear of ice water far above him, and the steady tension from Mahado and Mana as they tracked its progression. As he tried to gauge the correct direction in which to proceed Yugi's foot caught against an uneven stone in the floor and he fell.

"Oof!"

He scrambled to get back on his feet but the soldier was already on him, shoving him back to the floor. He snarled, but the sound choked as the soldier's boot dug into the back of his neck. The soldier kept shouting the presence of an intruder down the hallway as he stooped low to hold his captive. Reinforcements would surely hear the noise and come running. If Yugi didn't get away now, he'd be outnumbered…

The will to survive flared in him, a flash fire of strength. He twisted his head sideways in the soldier's grip and, sighting an exposed area of flesh, bit down on his arm. The soldier yowled: twin fangs pierced through the skin to the muscle tissue beneath. He jerked free of Yugi's bite and stumbled back; Yugi instantly scrambled to his feet and took off running again.

_I can't believe I just did that…!_ He kept his mouth open as he ran, to avoid tasting the blood staining his fangs. Ignoring the part of him that was appalled with himself, he listened over his shoulder. He couldn't hear the soldier pursuing him. Had he managed to shake him? In any case, surely someone had heard the commotion, and would come down to investigate. He kept running, searching for a staircase that would lead to the roof.

'_Soulmaster_,' Mahado suddenly warned. '_The curse is gathering strength much more quickly now._' Indeed, Yugi could feel a swell in the icy magic, like a rising tide. '_It is near its crux. At that point, the sacrifice will be made to unleash its fury_…'

_Téa!_

Yugi increased his speed. Up ahead he saw a faint light flickering down from above. "Stairs!"

"There! The intruder!" A pair of soldiers trundled down the staircase, one carrying a torch to light the dark passage. Each was big and broad with muscle, with long arms and hunched necks, like twin bears. In the orange and black of the flickering torchlight they looked grotesque and malformed with uneven slabs of muscle on their limbs. Compared to them, Yugi was like a stick, with a few thorns to prick the unwary hand that would snap him in half.

'_Imperials!_' cried Mana. '_Let us cast a spell to help…_'

'_No time!_' Yugi was too close; the soldiers had started rushing at him the moment they saw him. There was no way Yugi could fight these men on his own: physical confrontation was certainly _not_ one of his strong suits. His only hope was that his thorns might prove an effective weapon. He drew his tail into an arc, snarling, bracing for the oncoming fight.

"It's that demon rebel!" hollered one of the guards. "Don't let him escape!" The one with the torch charged him, fist recoiled for a crushing blow. Yugi, smaller and more agile, twisted out of the way and retaliated with a raking sweep of his claws. The guard dropped the torch and fell to his knees; Yugi pounced, aimed to bite his exposed hand –

Teeth clenched on clean air, as the other soldier seized his tail from behind and yanked him back before he could sink in his fangs. Yugi landed hard on his chest, prostrate on the stone between them. Wind and shadow rustled his hair: he opened his eyes and saw another punch coming at him. He rolled, swung his tail, drew a red line down a length of forearm – but he didn't see the kick also coming at him, and took the blow to the side. Well aimed, the kick knocked the wind out of him, stunning him for a moment.

Before he could recover, one of the soldiers grabbed the crowning points of his wings, having sensed them to be Yugi's weak point. Pain lanced down the limbs into his shoulders; the soldier used this grip to yank Yugi to his feet. Yugi's back arched with the pull, and he was unable to wrench himself free. Trapped in this hold, Yugi shuddered with internal pain. The adrenaline of the fight seared his already static-tinged nerves, like a wash of salt water over an open wound.

A throb from the curse energies above panged within him. The thought of what would happen if he didn't stop the curse from being unleashed burned in his mind. The whole of the virtual world would be destroyed… and Téa... Téa...

Compressed heat gleamed in violet-red eyes as a surge of electricity coursed within him. He would _die_ before he lost her!

With a vicious snarl Yugi roared back to life. He thrashed against his captor, as would a snake trapped in the talons of a hawk. His tail, which was still free, lashed against the soldier's shins, slicing blood and bone. He released Yugi instantly; and Yugi, rage curdling in his eyes, leapt at the approaching second soldier with all the speed of a recoiled panther.

"AAAARGH!" the soldier yelled as mass collided with him. Yugi clawed anything he could reach, in an attempt to fell his much larger adversary. Rows of cuts on the soldier's arms, chest, and face welled with blood. The smell of blood soon clouded the air like a dense fog. "The demon!" he cried. "Get it off!" For once Yugi didn't care about being called a demon; rather, he played along with the role, letting fear aid in subverting his enemy.

The first soldier limped forward to try to save his companion. Yugi was distracted, enthralled, focused on subduing the now heavily bleeding guard. He didn't turn around and instead whipped his tail in defense of the other soldier's approach. Only when he heard a gurgling cry and a heavy thud behind him did he turn away to see the one he had ignored. He was lying on the ground, motionless, and in the petering light of the forgotten torch Yugi saw shining red pooling around him, seeping from a gash in his throat.

Yugi went cold.

He dropped back from the guard he was attacking and stood numb. He stared at the soldier on the ground, now dead. Lifeless. Ice clenched up in his throat: he hadn't meant to, he had aimed without thinking – and his tail, sharp as a dagger at its tip, had cut open flesh and vein and had slain the man instantly.

He had killed.

Yugi's balance wavered as the fire vanished from his eyes. "_No_. No, I didn't…"

The bleeding soldier, breathing heavily, saw his companion lying there dead. He picked up the remains of the torch and pointed the hot smoldering end at Yugi. "Demon rebel! I'll kill you!" He charged, the torch thrust forward as a lance with which to slay the dragon. Yugi jerked free of his stupor, automatically swinging his tail around – then his breath left him an instant too late. The already wounded soldier plowed into it, and the blade and surrounding spikes pierced through skin and spilled blood.

"No!" Yugi cried, but the man was already dead, blood pouring profusely from his impaled gut. He jerked his tail free and the soldier's body crumpled to the floor. Slowly he lifted the end of his tail in front of him. He saw the glint of scales, and smeared atop them a stain, dark and indelible like sin, of glistening, wet blood.

He sank slowly to his knees, shaking. "No. I didn't mean to…"

'_Soulmaster!_' came Mahado's voice from somewhere far away. '_Quickly; the curse strengthens!_'

Yugi did not move. He was in shock. "I killed them… I didn't mean to… I didn't _mean_ to…"

'_Soulmaster, please!_' Mahado pleaded. '_We haven't much time! Their souls are no loss!_'

_Souls_. Just then a blazing pain hitched in Yugi's chest. In one swift blow it had him doubled over, his arms wound around himself.

"_Ahgh!_" He was in a vise; a giant fist was gripping him and constricting his ribs. The pain had come from nowhere at all! Yugi felt like his ribs were going to crack from the pressure as the muscles in his chest tightened like a snake around its prey.

"Is this… the power of the curse?" Yugi choked out. Had he failed to reach the roof in time and stop the unleashing of its fury? Was this pain his soul being wrenched out of his heart?

It stopped. Just like that, the pain abated, leaving nothing but residual soreness in his chest and shoulders. Each breath felt raw in his lungs like the feeling of breathing in cold winter air, but on the whole he was fine. For a moment he didn't move, wondering if it would return unexpectedly to strike him down. When it didn't, he stood shakily with a crackle of static electricity over shifting leather.

'_Soulmaster!_' Mahado radiated a frantic worry from his gem.

Yugi fought to steady his breathing. '_What was that?_'

'_We don't know!_' cried Mana. '_It disappeared before we could discern what it was. Are you all right, Yugi?_'

With that last bout of pain his nerves were on fire, ablaze with adrenaline and electricity. He was still shaking, but not so badly that he couldn't stand. When he brought a hand to his chest it was still sore enough to make him wince. '_I'll be okay._' He had to reach the roof before it was too late. He forced his eyes to focus on the staircase, to keep them from looking down at the two fallen soldiers as he ran past.

'_Soulmaster_,' Mahado said quietly, '_you should not hate yourself for killing those guards. The goal you seek is much higher than their lives_.' That didn't exactly comfort Yugi, and he felt a peal of guilt in his heart for diminishing the value of human life.

'_Think of it this way: if you didn't kill them, they would have just been killed by the curse_,' said Mana. '_They would have died either way. At least this way you still have the chance to save others_.'

He hadn't thought of it like that. She was right; if he couldn't stop the curse, then it would wipe out all existence in this realm. It didn't make him feel any better guilt-wise, but the logical half of his brain understood. _They would have died anyway_, said logic; _sparing two men isn't worth losing the whole of this world_.

_Logical or not_, said his heart, _the fact that I did it still hurts_. But in the end Yugi knew that it simplified down to them or us: them, or everyone else in this world.

The stairs ascended one, two, three flights. Now Yugi was on the fourth floor, in what he judged to be the center of the castle. He escaped the staircase into a wide, open hall, completely empty. Across from him were the stairs to the next level, which he dashed for determinedly. Now that he was closer to the roof, he could better feel the churning ice water above his head. It felt almost solid, less like a sensation created by magic and more like he were bobbing in an ocean of the real thing.

"There!" cried a voice. A gaggle of soldiers burst in through a door to the left and moved to block his way to the stairs.

'_Soulmaster, we don't have time to fight all of these men_,' urged Mahado as Yugi backed away from them. '_There is little time before the curse reaches its crux. When it does, the offering will be made_.' Yugi nodded and felt rage and pain smolder in his eyes. He knew he was left with no other option. He knew what he would have to do if he couldn't escape this fight.

"There's only one rebel! Hardly a challenge!" scoffed one of them.

Yugi took in a steeling breath and smirked. "Really? I wouldn't be too sure of that," he countered. He raised his tail and waved it, blood still visible on its tip. "I'm challenge enough to cost you your life if you lose."

Another guard gasped. "He's killed one of our men!"

"Two, actually." He was trying to intimidate these guards into backing down. If they didn't do so, he would be forced to fight them... and to use his last option.

"Demon!"

Yugi flashed the edges of his fangs. "That's what they call me."

The head soldier glared at him. "You really are an evil creature. Forget what Emperor Scott said about keeping you alive: I'll kill you with my own two hands!"

Yugi's eyes widened. _Keep me alive?_ Before he could think on the matter further the soldier surged forward. Yugi stood his ground, like a bullfighter waiting for the bull to draw near before –

"Arhlg!" A crimson-edged sword slashed his chest, and a new coat of blood splashed onto Yugi's tail blade. The guard pitched backward with the force of the blow, and, after wild movement in his eyes, died. Yugi felt his stomach overturn at the sight. He had had no choice. He had to do it. He knew this, but suddenly an incredible sickness had risen in him and made him lose his nerve. _I can't do this; I can't kill like this–!_

The other soldiers were enraged by this cold murder. "Demon rebel! We'll kill you!" They came at him, and Yugi stood shaking before the man he had killed.

'_Yugi, move! You have to fight!_' cried Mana.

'_I can't do it! I can't!_'

Mana began conjuring a spell to hold back his assailants. '_You have to! There's no other way!_'

'_Soulmaster, if you do not get past these soldiers, the whole of this continent will be engulfed with destruction! You must not let that happen!_' The soldiers running at him slowed, orange glitter tugging at their clothes. Mana's charm resisted their advance but could not stop them altogether. The two magicians continued to holler at Yugi, but he would not budge.

Just then the constricting pain clamped its teeth down upon his chest. Yugi choked and his balance gave out, knocking him down to all fours. He snarled as the vise returned to tauten his muscles around his still sore rib cage. Static surged through his nerves, searing his already injured chest and shoulders, burning with the heat of lightning strikes. He looked up with pain-hazed eyes and saw three blurry shadows looming over him, arms like grasping tree branches, slowly drawing near enough to strike.

Instinct to live took him, and his tail lifted high above his head. They were bearing down on him; Mana couldn't keep them from reaching for his throat–

And then everything in him burned red.

_Whap! Schlk._

He did it without thinking. Maybe his tail had done it of its own accord. Either way, it had snapped around and jerked, and in one swift action had cut clean through three throats. The soldiers were still moving at him in slow motion, but the magic didn't slow the flow of blood from their wounds, which gushed at an accelerated pace. Yugi watched with livid terror as the three men's eyes flickered at the same time, before they collapsed in front of him.

Dead.

Color left Yugi's face. He backed away from them quickly, still on all fours, breath hissing through his teeth. The smell of blood was overwhelming. It clogged his nose and drugged all of his other senses. All he could do was stare at the bodies of the four men he had slain. Electricity flared in his nerves, more alive than it had ever been.

Yugi gasped in air, a horrible noise threatening to escape him, but was cut off by a swell in his pain. "_Ahgh!_" Agony crashed down on him; he jerked and his arms gave out from beneath him. He crashed to the stone floor; the fresh, seeping blood from the dead men curled in around his hand and forearm as his claws dug into the grooved stone. Mahado and Mana hollered incoherent things to him that were lost under his racing heart. To draw breath was to incite fire into his lungs; the strange crunching of his muscles moved beyond his chest to overtake his shoulders and wings as well. He screeched as he felt the pressure surge against the obstinate ligaments in his wings, which he felt for sure would snap under the stress. All this while he had no idea what was happening, no idea what was causing it…

He cringed as the pressure swelled again. Noise like green-stick cracking; several joints in his wings and shoulders popped from the strain. After that everything began to slowly recede. His muscles relaxed their tension and the pressure died away, though the pain did not fully disappear. It was enough: enough that Yugi was able to recover his bearings. A thin sheen of sudor glistening on his brow, he pushed himself up from the blood-soaked stone. The whole of his chest and wings throbbed demandingly with each beat of his heart. He felt dizzy and about to pass out, and even the extra air he drew from his panting breaths did little to alleviate the drugged feeling on his senses. The wear of the static on his body over the past few days added up to his barely being able to get back on his feet.

'_Yugi_…' Mana murmured as he stepped unsteadily past the dead soldiers and started back for the staircase.

'…_I believe I am beginning to understand this affliction_,' said Mahado faintly. '_It is a reactionary response, either to the act of killing, or to your aversion to it_…'

Yugi stepped unsteadily onto the staircase. Blood from the dead soldiers ran down his palms in rivulets and dripped from his claws. He was still in shock, still on autopilot. It went unnoticed that the unending static in his nerves, which had been plaguing him for days, flickered and faded from his system.

Now his nerves were free to realize just how strong the curse had become. He could feel its icy tides tugging him in different directions as it swirled and ebbed above. He was close now, close enough that he could feel the faint tremors of the castle in response to the overwhelming forces gathering on the roof. Slowly, this reality pierced his hazy brain. His fog of pain began to dissipate as he remembered what was due to happen, and the color of emotion returned to his eyes.

"No…" He picked up his pace; the arched opening to the roof was just above him. "_No!_ Téa!"

He burst onto the roof. The sky at the horizon bled dyes of orange and scarlet into each other. He saw the evil red sun like a lidded dragon's eye staring back at him as it rolled its stare back into night. His breath escaped him as black mist as he looked up and gasped. Dank matter drifted above him, swirling like cloth in water. It was not incorporeal magic. It was solid, fetid, rank like decaying plant matter, and undulating like the motions of some deep trench-dwelling invertebrate. It was the essence of the curse, and he could see in the fading light that it was growing bigger.

Both Mahado and Mana went livid. '_It has grown too powerful!_' Mahado cried. '_We are too late!_'

Yugi couldn't take his eyes off of the mass. It seemed to draw his very soul unto its depths. It radiated an aura of perfect destruction, aptest ability; it was the most invulnerable thing to have ever existed. '_Is there nothing you can do?_'

Mahado stirred forth his greatest magics, blazing like comets within his spirit. '_Mana, you must lend me all aid that you can!_' Her own magic linked with his as the two gems around Yugi's neck began to burn with energy. '_Soulmaster, cast us into the heart of the curse!_'

Yugi pulled them from his neck and flung them hard into the center of the swirling cloud. The two glowing stones disappeared into the mass. Yugi couldn't see them; their light had vanished within the blackness, yet now the blackness was churning with agitation, as an oyster itches against its grain of sand.

He looked around the rooftop frantically. There was nothing he could do to help his magicians combat the curse, but maybe there was something he could do to weaken it from the outside. Beneath the cloud was a spell circle drawn of fine silver powder. Yugi dashed forward and started smearing the dust with his feet in an effort to damage the sigil.

"That won't be enough to weaken it. The curse has grown beyond yours or my control. It is sentient, and won't tolerate being disrupted."

Yugi froze. He recognized that voice, a voice that brought with it the haunting image of abyss eyes and the intense pain of a broken heart. Anger bubbled up from the very depths of its bones as he whirled around with a snarl. "_Scott!_"

There was a figure across from him, near the edge of the roof, veiled in the shadow of the whirling curse matter. Yugi bared his fangs and growled fiercely, advancing towards it with a vengeance. "I'll kill you!"

"I wouldn't be so hasty. I doubt you will want to kill me once you see my shield." The figure stepped forward and the bleeding sunlight struck its face. Yugi's stomach dropped out of him.

"_Téa!_"

She smirked evilly. "Not quite," said Scott's voice through her. "She is my puppet right now, my program written to cast this curse." Laughter rang like the rumbling of the castle beneath his feet. "She is also quite useful for tormenting you."

Yugi seethed with rage. "_Get out of her!_ Your fight is with me!"

She waved her finger back and forth. "Just because she's in my control is no reason to get jealous." Her eyes were dulled by Scott's personality rewrite, an emotionless, blank gray, as if winter clouds had rolled in against their original sky blue. She looked like a life-sized doll, made of delicate white porcelain and propped up against the wavering horizon behind her. "I can make her do anything I want to, you know," Scott went on casually. "Maybe I'll have her give you a kiss."

By now Yugi was bristling, every hair on edge. He started growling like a wolf in the brambles, his tail slashing air behind him. "So vicious," Scott noted. "I doubt your precious girl would enjoy seeing you like this."

"I don't care what you say," he spat. "I'll rip your influence from her so hard you'll feel it all the way back in your posh little throne room!"

"That won't be necessary. I was about to relinquish her." She sneered, "The curse is almost ready for its sacrifice; and you, pathetic _demon_," – Yugi snarled angrily – "_you_ will lose your heart again."

She took a step back, an eerie move that kept her upper body still, perfectly balanced on her dancer's legs. She was as a phantom, looking pale and ghostly in the deepening night. "I have no further use for her alive. Now, Yugi, watch her die." With that she whirled, and threw herself from the parapets into the ravine beyond.

* * *

When Tristan first laid eyes on the castle, he felt for the first time like he was going to die.

The object was in his sights, perched along the canyon rim, and all of a sudden everything in him twisted. His vision, his balance, everything spun and petered in and out of function. He collapsed in darkness; his mind was screaming in panic as the lights came on and off. They were going to stay off and he would be trapped forever in darkness–

He blinked. His eyes were back on. He sat up shaking and wiped the sweat from his eyes. Tristan felt his way back to his feet and faced the castle on rubbery legs, Gazelle staring at him as if he were a walking ghost. He swallowed dry air. That had been what Yugi had warned him about: his life, being sucked away by the malignant energies of the curse.

_And Yugi's in there somewhere fighting it_. Tristan felt as if he had stepped into some different plane of being. He wasn't used to feeling magic, wasn't used to feeling something so powerful and physical within his body that didn't affect at all his physical senses. His body felt both reeling from the impact and nonplussed as if nothing had happened at all. There were no words to describe this duality of opposite sensations except _damn creepy_.

Now he was inside the castle, feeling his way through the dark, trying to follow the muffled shouts that could lead him to Yugi. Every so often his heart would clench and he would stagger against the wall, gasping, as another wave of the curse washed over him. With each wave he felt weaker and dizzier. For sure there was one lesson he'd learned: he would never think lightly about Yugi and Ryou feeling magic again. He staggered down the hallway until he stumbled on something in his path.

In the dark Tristan felt down to see what it was. It was warm and pliable, and groaned when he prodded it. A soldier! Tristan recoiled, but realized when the man didn't move that he must have been unconscious. He reached again to feel for some sort of weapon he could take from him when his fingers brushed warm liquid. Blood? He felt the wound, finding two depressions in the arm. The equation lined up in his head. Two holes plus an unconscious guard…

"…Equals a bite from Yugi." Tristan habitually rubbed his own arm where Slypher had bitten him. When they had told Yugi of what happened with Slypher, they hadn't told him about the venom, thinking that it was a trivial detail that would only depress him further. That meant that Yugi had bitten this guard in a confrontation without knowledge that his bite would subdue his foe, and that he must have been desperate to do so. Tristan stood and jogged as quickly as he could down the hallway. Now that he knew Yugi was fighting these guys physically, he needed to catch up and help.

So he had thought.

When he came across the two dead soldiers before the stairwell, he nearly freaked. His shoe splashed in the puddle of blood on the floor and his breath left him. No way. They weren't dead. Were they? He checked, both of them. They were dead.

The lacerations on both of the bodies – gashes that looked as though they had been mauled by a tiger – meant only one thing. Yugi had been the one that killed them.

Flashbacks to the aftermath of Slypher reared up in him; he imagined with stark clarity Yugi doing this, yellow-eyed, with lethal accuracy to his strokes and the hiss of laughter in his throat.

"Get a grip!" he yelled at himself, though the weighted presence of the bodies in front of him tightened his voice to a shrill. "It's not like that!" Yugi had had _reason_ to do this: it was more important that he stop the curse than it was for him to battle soldiers.

Then again, snapped his memories, back in the badlands Yugi had nearly succumbed to the snarling rage brought on by a spark of Slypher's magic. Could these deaths have been acts of rage over being interrupted, rather than of necessity to save the rest of the virtual world...?

_No_. Yugi was _not_ like that. Slypher may have been a coldhearted killer, but Yugi was his friend. He dashed off before he could doubt any of his own thoughts. As he followed Yugi's path to the rooftop staircase it took more and more of his willpower to maintain his stance. _Six people,_ he counted in his head as he passed their bodies. _Our Yugi killed six people. Please, oh please let it be worth something in the end_.

He was almost to the top of the staircase when a wave of sickness came over him. It came so suddenly that he stumbled on the last step and landed flat on his face on the roof. Warped heat and a feeling of his organs churning in a washing machine surged through him and made him gag. He had stumbled into the direct presence of the curse. It was unbearable: the malaise of oncoming death. He was sure he was going to die here. He was so stupid – Yugi had warned him! He knew this magic would kill him! Why the hell did Tristan have to be so gallant as to ignore such bold truth?

The sickness was getting weaker, and he thought for sure it was because he was fading from life. Only when he realized he could still hear himself breathing did he think that maybe the curse was the one weakening, not him. He looked up at the swirling blackness – his body threatened to pass out just from the sight of it – and saw within it two glowing points, vibrant purple, surrounded by an ocean blue aura. The black was writhing against this color, giving off sparks, raving, dying. The poison of good magic had entered its system and was slowly killing it from the inside.

Tristan felt some strength return to him and he pushed himself to his feet. He could only watch as the curse matter began dissolving into the light, its solidity dissipating like cloth ripped to pieces and dispersed by the wind. He sucked in a sharp breath as he felt something within him jolt; suddenly he felt well as if in his prime, warm as if having just downed a mug of hot chocolate. The life the curse stole… being returned?

There came a roar like ocean waves crashing over rocks. The churning black _thing_ collapsed inward, suddenly dense, before being blown apart by a thrust of energy from the two amethyst glows. It dissipated into black wind-blown mist, which brushed his cheek like sea foam as it faded, leaving a lingering touch of malevolence as dark water droplets sliding down his face.

Tristan resumed breathing.

Was that it? Had it been destroyed? Tristan looked around, searching for Yugi. He didn't see his friend anywhere on the rooftop. His attention was distracted by the two amethyst lights floating in front of him. They fell to the stone with a clatter, no longer supported by glowing magic. The light surrounding them faded, and Tristan saw that they were two jewels, the same purple as Yugi's soul gem. His Magicians? He took a hesitant step forward. He could have sworn that they were moving, sliding across the stones toward the parapets... toward the chasm that lay beyond.

It was another several moments before Tristan realized what this implied. Yugi had to have been here – how else could the Magicians have reached this place to combat the curse? – yet at present he was nowhere to be seen. Tristan hadn't run into him while within the castle, and there were no other ways off the roof... Supposedly, Téa was also present within the castle. Surely Scott would have used her against Yugi, as a means to thwart his efforts, or at least stall him while the curse continued to strengthen. If, during their face off, it had become apparent that Yugi was going to prevail...

"Crap," Tristan said, the sickness quickly returning to his stomach that had not yet recovered from the curse-throes. He took a few more steps forward, toward the low wall edging the roof. "He couldn't, he didn't..." The grating scratch of amethysts sliding across roof-stones tingled high and ethereal in his ears. They confirmed his plummeting fear.

Scott had forced Téa to jump off the roof. And Yugi, without any other option, had followed.

* * *

Later, Yugi wouldn't remember why he had done it. All he knew was that the instant he had sensed Scott's intentions he was moving forward against the wind. It wasn't until he felt the pitch of gravity in his stomach and cold darkness in his face that he realized he had jumped after her.

He vaguely wondered why he wasn't panicking. The wind stung his face, his stomach writhed in a mass of knots, but mentally he remained eerily calm. He knew he was still within the bounds of the anti-monster barrier, and so couldn't call Seiyaryu to save him. Above him he felt the curse beginning to falter and knew that Mahado and Mana were too involved with dismantling it to lend any aid. There was no hope for him: he was going to die.

Why, then, wasn't he afraid of falling?

Truth be told, he didn't feel like he was falling at all. It wasn't anything like it had been the first time, when he fell free of his dragon at Enno. Gravity had seemed like a living entity then, driven to draw him into the ground. Maybe it was his body's method of coping with impending death... because, in a way that felt too unnatural to be of his own conscious, he felt within him a strange peace with being airborne. He wondered how this could be; what the circumstance was that made this fall so different from his last.

_Because_, a disparate part of him realized, _you're_ not _falling_.

Not falling? Yugi was plummeting straight down into a gaping ravine; it certainly seemed like falling to him. It couldn't be anything _except_ falling, unless…

Yugi jerked free of his becalmed state. "_Diving?_" he cried over the wind. He twisted and stared back at his shoulder. It was barely visible in the darkness, but he felt with his shoulders what his eyes couldn't reveal: scales glinting in a line far to his side, along a path of bone and leather.

Yugi gaped. It couldn't be possible. His wings were stretched open against the wind, steering him down on a course for the bottom of the ravine. He knew it was impossible; no matter what he had tried, he had never been able to make them move... Slowly, eyes watching the appendage, Yugi focused on drawing his wing in to his side. It resisted, then slowly gave in, bone and leather pulling back from its full size. A raw pain, stiff and burning like frostbite, flared from the joints of his wing as it moved. His fall became choppier without it stabilizing him and he let it unfurl again.

It was impossible, but it was true. "I… I'm flying?" he breathed. Flying, no – "falling with style" was a term he had heard somewhere – but the opportunity certainly now seemed possible, something within reach. Yugi was numb with this knowledge. He had cast off the idea of flying long ago, in the name of rejecting as much as he could of his now partly-dragon physiology. Since then, he had never given it a second thought...

Now, it was his only hope of survival. His monsters were powerless to save him, and he had only one option left besides certain death. He had to fly to save himself – and Téa.

He could barely make out Téa's form ahead of him. She appeared to be unconscious with the removal of Scott's influence, tumbling limply below him, just out of arm's reach. Yugi hissed and reached with his tail, trying to grab hold without cutting her. He carefully coiled it around her ankle and pulled her up to his level. When he had straightened her out he wrapped his arms around her and held her close to his chest.

Now reality caught up with him: Yugi suddenly realized that he had absolutely no idea how to fly. He tested his wings again, feeling the soreness return as he experimented with the motor controls. He tried moving his wings back in preparation for a downstroke, but nothing happened. He craned his neck over his shoulder and saw the shrinking opening to the canyon above him, faint stars twinkling within it like teeth in a grinning maw. Already it looked too far away for him to reach...

He steeled himself against the panic rising in his heart. He had to try. Gripping Téa tightly, he twisted himself and swung upward out of the dive. Automatically something clenched in his chest – and for the first time Yugi felt a surge run through his blood as his wings beat downward against the air. Almost instantly pain ripped through him; his wings nearly crumpled under the strain of his and Téa's combined weight. It took all his focus to maintain himself and concentrate on moving _up_. The muscles in his chest powering his flapping pulled tight with pain after only a few strokes, flaring with each flap; the muscles were raw, not ready for flight; Yugi was forcing too much upon them too soon.

Yugi admitted to himself that he had no idea what he was doing, aware by his rapidly dwindling strength that he was probably being very inefficient and sloppy with the motions. His breathing quickly became labored. His chest was burning from the exertion, tightening, threatening to give out at any moment. It was beginning to crush his ribs and strangle his lungs, but he had to keep going; he couldn't let them both die. His vision was starting to spin but he couldn't give up... The canyon lip was above him, closer now, he could almost see it…

* * *

Tristan couldn't recall ever having his knees give out from under him. He had always felt that was something that only happened in movies, a symbolic action that was meant to convey an emotion to the audience rather than to mimic reality. When sharp stings lanced up from both kneecaps he realized that that emotion was actually possible to have. A combination of panic and dread and stark introduction to life's cold truth that overwhelmed the mind so greatly that the body just turned off.

"You idiot!" he yelled down into the ravine in a voice choked with saltwater. "You stupid suicidal _idiot!_" Why in Hell did Yugi have to be so damn chivalrous?

A chivalrous, scarlet splat on slabs of stone.

Flabbergasted, feeling like he might puke, Tristan slumped back against his palms. He didn't know what to do. It was clearly evident that pain and injuries were as real in this world as they were in the outside one... a death here, then, would be just as final. His hand skittered on the ground behind him without his own intent, fumbling for the stones containing Yugi's magicians. He found one, lifting it in front of him. Without knowing which one was which, he knew somehow that this one was the Dark Magician; the gem moved on his palm, scooting towards the parapets. Tristan didn't know what to make of this gesture, closing his fingers around it so it wouldn't slide off his hand.

Maybe they had hit bottom already. Maybe Téa and Yugi were already...

"Damn it, Yugi," he muttered, then crescendoed to a yell. "Damn it, Yugi! You let yourself get killed by something as dumb as this? What the hell's wrong with you?"

He sat back numbly. Then, from the stirring breeze settling under the blanket of night, he heard an answer.

"_Hey! How about instead of mourning my death you lend me a hand here?_"

"YUGI?"

Tristan threw himself onto the castle wall. He peered into the shadows of the ravine below: first nothing, then stirrings of shapes, sketches of movement, puffs of air that could only be wingbeats. Tristan was beside himself with relief – Yugi had actually managed to do it! He had jumped after Téa and managed to call Seiyaryu in the nick of time.

Except… No. The movement rose from the darkness and took on blood-scaled wings under the penetrating starlight. As one jaw was clenched to the breaking point under the effort, another fell ajar.

"Yugi, are you _flying?_"

"_No, I'm swimming! Just stop gawking and help me out here!_"

Yugi had Téa in his clutches, his tail wrapped around her for extra support. As they came closer Tristan could see the strain on Yugi's face from the exertion of keeping them airborne, as if each wingbeat took all of his focus. There were scratch marks on Téa's arms from Yugi's grip tightening with tension. Tristan dangled his arm towards them. "Just a little higher! I can almost reach her!"

He felt the air rush past him as Yugi forced his way up. Without hesitating he leaned forward and pulled Téa out of Yugi's coiled grip. A moment she was free above the ravine – a moment in which she could have fallen back toward death without wings – and he lifted her onto the castle roof.

Tristan bent over her, and wind and shadow sailed over his shoulder. Free of his burden, Yugi flapped once to get over the wall and then collapsed onto the roof from midair. He lay flat on his back, his chest heaving with breath that sounded like the grinding of a deep-lung cough.

"Yugi?"

Yugi cracked one eye open, clearly stating that breathing was more important than explaining right now. Tristan gave a reciprocating nod and turned back to Téa. Save the marks of her rescue she appeared to be unharmed. Was she free of Scott's control? Only Yugi could tell it if she were. The last of the curse was finally leaving Tristan, sweeping the dust from his first encounter with magic sense from his body. He was normal again. Now it would be like before: Yugi would be the only one to feel magic, the only one to react when bitter black things stirred in different planes.

Tristan preferred it that way.

"_Hurt?_" Yugi huffed, still breathless.

"Nah, she's fine. A little scrape here and there is nothin' compared to almost being a pancake."

He grinned open-mouthed, fangs throwing back starlight. Tristan saw faint pink at their points and thought back to the soldiers in the castle, the ones who had confronted Yugi and paid the price for doing so. He understood that Yugi had had no choice. He knew what the curse would have done to those guards, what it had almost done to him. That didn't stop the feeling from rising in him, tucked neatly under his arm: one last parcel that he hadn't handed over to the owner yet. A burden he didn't want to pass on to its heir.

Yugi had partially regained his breath and was no longer completely winded. He craned his neck to look at Téa, her upper body supported by Tristan. "She's okay," he murmured between gulps of air. "We got her back, Tristan. We saved her from Scott."

Tristan mentally noted that _he_ had done very little and that Yugi had done most of the saving – though he wasn't going to say anything about it and ruin the relief radiating from Yugi's face. Right now, to him, all of the resistance's problems were trivial. Regaining Téa had lifted all the recent misfortunes from him and opened his heart. Tristan saw how looking at her brought the glimmer of happiness back to his eyes, so darkened by despair and the shadows of exhaustion.

"She's okay," he said again, eyelids drooping under the exhaustion of rescue. "She's here with us again…" He slid slowly into unconsciousness, a smile still on his face.

"Dang." Tristan sighed, but also expected it: after all, Yugi had just performed an amazing feat of physical strength, something quite out of his league despite his impeccable skill. Tristan was still numbed by it all. He hadn't thought that it was possible for Yugi to fly… He looked down at Yugi's wings, sprawled out half-open on either side of him from his faulty landing. Seeing them _open_, with black leather stretched between spread digits of his wing, it was more evident that they were living appendages rather than just fixed attachments. Tristan gasped when he noticed the bones leading to Yugi's shoulder blades. Where they had been thin and spindly before had now thickened with layers of muscle; and on his chest, the contours of the flight muscles necessary for flapping were clearly visible, like divisions on a slab of chocolate.

Tristan gaped. Yugi had _definitely_ not had a chest like that before. He had changed again… but how?

Then, all of the pieces came together. One word, one concept, made everything fit, and despite his sickness at the thought he knew that everything came back to it:

Slypher.

There had definitely been a spark of Slypher's magic within Yugi. If one of Slypher's spells had been left behind on him… Tristan remembered the mixed up feeling he had had after being affected by Scott's controlling magic. If it had mixed up Yugi too, then a hidden remnant of the god's magic could have been uncovered, explaining why it had remained dormant, unfelt by Yugi, for so long…

So the magic had been there _the whole time_. And when Yugi…

_Pools of blood splashed against his feet. The bodies were still warm_.

Yugi had killed those men. It had been out of necessity, but it didn't change the fact that he had.

"_I used the energy from those I killed to make these additions when I instead could have strengthened my own power. Even so, I cannot fly just yet… Though you mortals may be enough to remedy that_."

Slypher killed to gain power. He had used the energy from the lives he took to transform Yugi's body, but had left the wings unfinished. The remnant spell… Yugi killing the guards… all added up to completing what Slypher had left undone.

Yugi's gruesome act had been the catalyst for saving both his and Téa's lives. This shook Tristan deeply. Had Yugi not killed those men, he and Téa would be dead…

_You would have been dead, too_, he reminded himself, _had Yugi not reached the curse in time_. So many lives had been taken and saved, and the decision had come in an instant. Much as Tristan was appalled and shaken by what Yugi had done, what struck him the most deeply was that were he given the same situation, he didn't think he would be able to go through with it.

Tristan looked down at Yugi again. _Guess he'll have a memento of this day for a long time_. He sighed, watching the moon rise gracefully on the horizon, when suddenly a thought struck him.

"How am I supposed to carry _two_ people out of here?"

* * *

Notes:

(One) – Did that… even make any sense at all?

SC: So, were any of you guys like... "Geez! Why can't Yugi fly? Why the crud did you even bother to give him wings at all?"

THIS IS WHY. So that Spellcaster actually has relevance, other than "We couldn't think of a better plot, so we decided to just have another rescue-Téa mission." Seriously, it's like the programmers are stuck in one frame of mind – kinda' like how Mokuba always gets kidnapped.

It's also because we have some major issues coming soon. _Major_. (Yeah, I know... Like we don't have enough of that already, right?) It's hard to really see what any of them are right now, but I promise that later on, some things of great importance will have spurned from this chapter. There are lots of little things thrown in there... I'll give you a hint: the fact that Yugi seriously freaked out over killing the soldiers is a big deal.

I won't say anything more; if I give away everything, it takes away the fun for you readers. I ask that you please read and review, if you're still there.

Word Count: 13, 451


End file.
